


Tails of a Halfblood: Book 3: Restoration

by IziWilson76



Series: Tails of A Half Blood [3]
Category: Mako Mermaids
Genre: Erik and Zac are cousins, Erik has a brother - Freeform, F/M, Mimmi's name is Zoe, Royalty, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-27 19:08:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 78,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8413237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IziWilson76/pseuds/IziWilson76
Summary: It's been a few months since the Battle for Mako and the Bauman-Consorzio Clan is still forming. But unfortunately, a new species comes near the city and Carly becomes one of these new supernatural creatures...through a bite. Meanwhile a teenage pregnancy occurs and a deadly virus outbreaks both with the same lesson: change can be good or bad. Book 3 of Tails of a Halfblood.





	1. Prolouge

_ This is Mako Island. For generations, it was mermaid against merman. Then one day, everything changed. _

 

Guided by her thoughts, a rapid shape, enveloped in water. Inside the bubbling figure, was a girl with dark red hair with some blue streaks in them, fair skin, a silver tail and deep blue eyes. The water around her bounced as she swam as fast as she could to meet her friends with her boyfriend, who was running late.

 

_ I met Raiden. And together, with our friends who also met their matches and reunited with their families, we have shown two cultures, divided by hate and fear that we can live with each other, learn about ourselves with each other, and even raise a new generation together. _

 

Thalassa Santos surfaced to find herself surrounded by not just her best friends who had been there for her, even when they became mermaids themselves, but by new friends, mermen. By day, they were a clique of 8 misfits. But by night, they were the infamous Sirens Creed.

 

“Where’s Raiden?” Xhiva Tiraken, an Indian merboy asked. 

 

“He said to go on without me.” said Thalie shrugging.

 

“Raiden or no Raiden, this contest is on!” Helen Carter, a rather competitive girl exclaimed.

 

“Easy Hellfire.” said Rosalina Gomez or Rose, the sweet one of the bundle. “We just have to be patient.”

 

“You know me, I’m never patient.” said a smirking Xandou Tiraken, the fast and impulsive one. A few months ago, he had changed his hair to a mohawk style, in other words, shaved his head until his hair was a thin strip of it.

 

“We know that SD.” said Diablo Nagual, swimming close to Rose, his girlfriend. “You can never wait.”

 

“You’re the one to talk.” said Yukimi Hamasaki or Kimi smartly. 

 

“Great.” said Helen. “Now that everyone’s here, can we go?”

 

“If you wanna go, then sweet Jesus,  **go** !” Kimi exclaimed.

 

“Oh I will go.” said Helen. “And when I do, I’m gonna light this trick contest on FIRE!” 

 

She dived down below and illuminated her body alight with Greek Fire, a fire that could not be extinguished by water. The green fire followed her, illuminating her path a few meters and she rose out of the water, the green fire changing from Greek Fire to regular fire as she tucked her tail in and did a somersault, her tail instantly drying up and as she fell down, fire shot out of her bare feet like rockets, propelling her forward to the rest of the merkids who watched her in awe and she was only 3 feet from them when she dived back down, instantly transforming back into a mermaid.

 

“Impressive.” said Xandou, kissing his girlfriend. “But I can do better.”

 

Kimi smiled and rolled her eyes at their antics. While the couple loved each other, they did occasionally banter on who was better at things.

 

“My turn.” Xandou boasted. “Let me show you amateurs how a real merman does it.” He dived underwater and swam some meters  before he tried to rise up and dry off his tail, but he was so distracted that while he was drying off his tail, he had jumped so high and landed right on his stomach with a loud SLAP! He was in his swim trunks so that was why his stomach wasn’t protected. The boys laughed a little while Helen swam before any of the girls could as fast as she could towards her boyfriend. Helen may be tough, but like Xandou, Erik, and Raiden, she had a heart of gold.

 

“Xandou!” She cried. “Are you ok?”

 

“Never better.” He winced out. As raised by a crime family, Xandou was no stranger to pain. But a belly flop from a height of 15 feet in the air? That hurt.

 

“Should we take a break?” Thalie asked.

 

“No.” said Xandou. “I’ll heal. Let’s just see my brother do better than that.”

 

“Better than what?” Xandou’s twin brother challenged. “Your epic fail?”

 

“Xhiva.” Xhiva’s girlfriend, Kimi warned with a death glare. “Come on, like we practiced.”

 

They took each other's hand and began to glide with Xhiva moving them telekinetically along the waves. Xhiva had limited control over water because of his status as a Delta merman, the child of an Omega, but he made a wave big enough for the two to ride on and Kimi, using her Omega of Winter powers to freeze the wave as well as increase it’s size so they slid down and Kimi manipulated it to create an arching wave as to carry them around and Kimi made it explode into small ice crystals that fell the sky. It was dusk so no one probably saw anything. 

 

“That was amazing!” Rose said in pure joy.    
  


“My turn!” Diablo shouted changing into a shark, then rising to change into an eagle, then playing dead, falling into a dolphin’s mouth but barely escaping but turning into a dolphin and swimming back. 

 

Most of them were laughing while Diablo looked scared out of his mind. One thing that set Diablo apart from most merpeople, was his ability to change his shape into various animals. His type of merman was rare but not unheard of. An Alpha merman. Unfortunately, because this status, he could not manipulate water nor boil it or use a moon ring.

 

“No me gusta.” He said. 

 

“Hey it was kind of funny.” said Xhiva patting his best friend’s back.

 

“You ok?” Rose asked.

 

“Soy bien.” replied the Argentinian merman.    
  


“Alright.” said Rose. “Everyone get back.” They all did instantly and Rose went under and collected air as a whale did when getting ready to sprout and she did. Bursting from the water in a giant water sprout she performed several backflips before conjuring a cloud to bring her down down. Like Diablo, one thing that set Rose from the other merpeople apart from being the Omega of Air was her ability to fly. But she could only fly with her legs. It would be weird to see a literal flying fish.

 

“Hey Terrible Twos.” Diablo said. “Why don’t you do something cool? Like Zac and Zoe?”

 

“We can’t.” said Xandou and Xhiva in perfect unison, which what something that they tended to do due to them having almost a similar mindset.

 

“Delta merpeople can individually do amazing things i

 

“Guys!” A panting voice reached them, and behind them was the merman they were waiting for to show up. He was a teenage merman with skin kissed by the sun, brown hair with a few gold streaks in them and big violet eyes.

 

“Raiden!” Thalie hugged her boyfriend. “What happened? I thought you lost track of time.”

 

“Mother made me lose track of time.” said Prince Raiden Bauman-Consorzio. “I would show you but there is  **present** company included in my presence.” He eyed his best friends, mainly the Tiraken Twins and Diablo.

 

“Why?” Rose asked concerned. “What’s the matter?”

 

“I would show you but like I said, present company included.” said Raiden.

 

“Come on bro.” said Xandou. “We promise we won’t laugh.”

 

“Much.” Diablo said quietly.

 

“You’re not getting cold fins are ya?” Helen asked.

 

“Fine.” said Raiden bringing his head and his body into view. On his lean but sculpted torso, was armor that was somewhat of Egyptian style crossed with a pauldon without the shoulder pads. Replacing the shoulder pads, was the brown light leather wrapping, holding the real armor in place. Gold straps on his chest, in an X appearance that covered down to his ribs, small amethysts decorated the straps and in the middle of the X was a bright big amethyst. On his forearms were armbands, similar to the one Diablo had except they were gold and had amethysts decorated on each band in the shape of a lightning bolt.

 

“Oh my God dude!” DIablo said gwaffing. “You look like a purple disco ball!”

 

“I never thought you as the jewel type.” said Xhiva, who was trying not to laugh. “And that’s saying something considering back in the day you always picked out the shiniest things.”

 

Xandou however was laughing so hard, he had to hold on to both Kimi and Diablo for support. Merpeople could breathe water but even they needed to catch their breath.

 

Thalie looked over to Helen who shrugged her shoulders while smiling, and keeping Rose from losing her breath. Rose was an empathetic laugher. If someone laughed, she laughed along just as hard.

 

Thalie just rolled her eyes and smiled at her friends antics and kissed her embarrassed boyfriend who was crackling with embarrassment-and quite literally one would add.

 

“Well I think.” She said. “You look very handsome, Prince Raiden.”

 

“Thank you m’lady.” Raiden whispered charmingly before enveloping her in a kiss.

 

“Raiden.” said Thalie, flushed. “We have our rick-tay to how-say.”

 

“Say hoe?” Raiden asked confused.

 

Thalie chuckled before tapping her boyfriend’s nose. “No silly. I’m trying to say it’s our trick for the contest.”

 

“Wait, we’re first right?” Raiden blanched. 

 

Kimi winced. “Sorry my friend. You guys are last. But don’t worry, we’ll fill you in. For now, just go.”

 

“We will when we all get underwater so no one can see us.” said Raiden.

 

Everyone dived to the surface a few feet below and Raiden and Thalie took off, swimming side by side until they stopped as Thalie created a wall pushing them back, pushing them forward and then diving down into the dark depths. She created a tunnel in the dark deep that elevated them upward with Raiden’s fingertips illuminating the entire tunnel with electricity. It seemed to happen in slow motion. The two merteens, their arms raised mighty high, concentrating on power, were momentarily distracted by each other but they regained focus by hold hands and just like that, Thalie broke the tunnel just as they were about to reach the surface and Raiden shot out a burst of electrifying energy that burst in the water like fireworks.

 

**_They’re still the best._ ** Kimi said mentally, since merpeople couldn’t talk underwater.

 

**_We’ll catch up later!_ ** Thalie said to all of their friends as they swam apart and Thalie with the new clan’s prince swam to Mako Island, known more as the West Island. 

 

There were 5 islands in a clan and four about 20 miles away from Mako. For a clan, it depended on where the resources for each faction was but for the Bauman-Consorzio clan, the North Island was for magic, potions, and knowledge, the kind of place Zoe or Kimi would be likely to hang out. The South Island, was for agriculture, mining, and craftsmanship, which included blacksmithing. Mako Island or the West Island, was the cultural and historical center. The merpeople there are tasked with reminding others of how far they had come to become one people. They were also the guardians of all the traditions a clan typically upheld. Mako was chosen for the Moon Pool of course. And then, there’s the East Island, also known as Guardia Island. Only the best of the fighters live there. And the best of doctors. It was kind of convenient, having to be brutally injured while training and having a doctor right around the corner. It was also where the merpeople version of the police worked. That’s what Guardia Island was, law enforcement, war and medicine. Finally, there’s the central island. The command center of the clan. It’s where the royal family lived as well as the the advisors, architects and the ambassador.

 

_ Yep.  _ Thalie narrated as she and Raiden entered Mako.  _ That’s a clan for you. Most people who know how the mermaids living in the Mako Pod became the Mako clan would expect all the problems to just go away like that. Unfortunately, merpeople may have tails and all but they’re still… well, people. _

 

As the couple surfaced to view in the scene, the had surfaced to what looked like the recipe starting to make a warzone. Mermaids and mermen everywhere, fighting each other, one sex after the other, just looking for a fight.

 

“Let go of my food! That’s mine! Drop it pesky merman! Mermen!”

 

“Those are my shells mermaid!”

 

“Let go of that, bitch! That’s my harpoon!”

 

“Give me back my bras merman!”

 

The two merkids swam around carefully and literally treading water to avoid angry civilians as well as their complaints. They were split apart by a swarm of mermaids diving right into them.

 

“Well this swim hasn’t been so relaxing.” Thalie muttered after coming up for air.

 

“You think?” Raiden asked. “Let’s high tail out of here.”

 

“Really?” Thalie asked smirking.

 

“Poor choice of words.” The couple swam off to the South Island only to find more chaos!

 

“Look out!” A mermaid accidentally bumped with a large piece of her shell accidentally tearing off a nearby mermaid bra!

 

“Watch it!” Sheila yelled at the fleeing young mermaid.

 

“Ok, did not need to see that.” said Raiden swimming and bumping into two of his old friends from the original Ares Tribe. 

 

“Hey Mulch.” said Thalie. 

 

“Hey Bane.” said Raiden sheepishly. “Sorry about what you had to see.”

 

“Eh.” said Bane, a silver haired merman from Ireland. “We’ve seen worse, lads. A tip of the cap.”

 

“Better than the days when it was kill or be killed.” said Mulch a sandy haired merman from Australia. “Hey Voltage, we’ve got that order of fish for that mother of yours. Bane, give the boy the herring.”

 

Bane reached into his satchel only to find nothing. “What? I could have sworn I packed this blasted fish. I caught and killed it myself.”

 

“Uh Bane was it?” Thalie asked politely. “Not to be the bearer of bad news but I think that someone else caught it from you.” She pointed to a sneaking small tiger shark with the fish in his mouth. The shark gave a look as if to say,  _ What? I’m hungry. _

 

Raiden had a sneaking suspicion that it was Diablo himself on account of his eyes being Diablo’s unusual eye color of bright amber orange.

 

Bane slapped his hand to his forehead while Mulch chuckled. “Old habits die hard.”

 

Raiden took a look around at the fighting scene and said, “You don’t say.”

 

The chaos was a regular occurrence and Queen Persephone with her family struggled to keep it together, with occasional help from Thalie and the others. Erik was away, training to be a king. The chaos wasn’t permanent, it only lasted until nighttime.

 

_ Most of us here are willing to take the good with the bad.  _ Thalie narrated.  _ But there are those who will never accept change and will do anything to drive their enemy away. _

 

That night, far in the eastern side of Mako, was a sleeping mermaid in her 50’s, disturbed by a loud noise.

 

That old mermaid is  Gyűlölet  **(A.N that’s pronounced, U-lo-let)** , Mako Pod grump and resident merman hater.

 

Muttering, she got up and saw a merman hitting a sword against a rock.

 

“Hey!” She shouted. “The East Island’s that way!”

 

“Sorry miss.” The merman grunted.

 

When she tried to get some sleep again, she found her hair being chewed by a shark.

 

“My hair!” She exclaimed, shooing the shark away and snarling, “That tears it!”

 

The mornings in the Gold Coast, even in the water were always carefree but busy. Today was one of those pretty busy mornings because of the food storage problem.

 

Taking care of that problem, in the Central Island, was Queen Persephone Bauman-Consorzio with her niece, Princess Zoe Khatha. She used to be known for her nickname, Mimmi but it was changed to people wouldn’t get confused.

 

Both were wearing quite the bejewelled outfits. Persephone was wearing a strapless bra with sapphires covering all of it, small silver bracelet bands on her wrists, sapphire earrings and an elven style silver crown with a clear white diamond in the centerpiece, symbolizing hope and equality  for a queen’s people.

 

Zoe was wearing a round neck bikini with black diamonds covering it, silver bracelets and silver moon earrings. Unlike her aunt, she did not wear any crowns.

 

“We’ll have to come up with a schedule.” said Zoe to her aunt.

 

“Right.” said Persephone. “We’re running out of lobster and there’s not a lot of seaweed in the areas.”

 

“Persephone!” Gyűlölet shouted, swimming up to them. 

 

“Oh look.” said Zoe. “Here comes Gyűlölet with the complaint of the day.”

 

“You picked a really bad time for this Gyűlölet.” said Persephone getting in front of Zoe. “I’m in the middle of an important discussion, we have to store food.”

 

“And why do you think that is?” Gyűlölet challenged. “Don’t you see my Queen? These barbarian mermen are not fit to live among civilized women.”

 

“Neither are you.” Zoe quipped. “Why do you think we make you sleep so far on Mako?”   
  


“Ah joke all you want.” Gyűlölet snarled. “In the meantime, these mermen are everywhere! Turning people’s routines into chaos! They steal food! They disturb school, meal times and even an old woman’s rest! Can’t you see these bags under my eyes?” She pointed to her face, and aware that some mermaids were listening and agreeing with her.

 

Zoe was close to tackling the mermaid right there. She was reminded of Veridia, who like Gyűlölet, hated merman to the T. Up until she went with Ondina to the Gold Coast, she hated mermen too and when she discovered that the merman she was to take down was her brother and that two Aresmen were her cousins, she quickly changed her views. To her, mermen now may be wild and unpredictable, but they were still of the same kind!

 

“You need to put these mermen in cages!” Gyűlölet shouted, the mermaids agreeing with her.

 

“ENOUGH!” Zoe shouted after teleporting in shadow in front of the old woman. “Mermen don’t mean harm! Slade is gone! They were just misguided, and now they’re without a leader! We all need to get used to each other and you need to broaden your appeal!”

 

Gyűlölet continued to glare at Zoe before Persephone stepped in. “If there’s a problem,  **I’ll** deal with it.”

 

“Oh there  **is** a problem Persephone.” said Gyűlölet threateningly. “And I think I speak for everyone when I say, You better do something about it.”

 

At that point, the mermaids and even the mermen lodged their complaints while Persephone and Zoe could only pray that this whole peace treaty wouldn’t get out of hand.

 

Later that night, Rita had let the Royal Family use the grotto since construction was still in progress at the Central Island and the Moon Pool had been reserved for a night class Ondina was teaching. Rita even had been invited to attend the meeting, just to offer ideas on the domestic dispute. Rita had also been appointed as a part time advisor for the Royal Family. Ondina’s parents were busy working at their jobs and Jacob Khatha, Zoe and Zac’s biological father was still in Ko Ban taking care of Sirena who was comatose at the time from the Battle For Mako that took place almost 5 months ago.  **(A.N it’s the middle of April at this time.)**

 

“You can’t just let the mermen and mermaids swim around like they own the place.” said Rita.

 

“Nor can I impose my job.” said Persephone. “Besides, I’m just acting Queen until Erik completes his training.”

 

“Hey!” said Zac aloud. “We could put up signs.”

 

“Signs?” Raiden asked. “For merpeople?”

 

“What’s wrong with that?” Zac asked.

 

“Zac.” said Raiden. “Before Erik and I fled to land, we had trouble reading, so we snuck to schools and that was how we got our education. But it still took a long time.”

 

“That’s a great idea.” said Zac. “We could teach them!”

 

“That might be a little problem.” said Persephone sadly.

 

“Why?” Zac asked, still not seeing the problem.

 

“Zac.” said Zac’s biological twin sister, Zoe. “Your girlfriend did a little research. And according to Evie’s survey results, about 95% of the original Mako Pod and 45% of the original Ares Tribe are functionally illiterate.”

 

“Oh so what?” Zac asked.

 

“Zoe’s right.” said Rita. “Why only last Friday, at the North Island Race, they tried to spell out, ‘Go Team’ and they spelled out, ‘To Game’

 

“Oh yeah.” Zac’s face fell into dissapointment. 

 

“Maybe we can make new laws.” Zoe suggested.

 

“Take it from me.” said Raiden. “Rules to us, are more like guidelines than actual rules. There’s a difference.”

 

“Well I don’t hear  **you** coming up with anything.” Zoe challenged.

 

“Well I’m just being realistic.” Raiden shot back.

 

“Children!” Persephone exclaimed, immediately bringing the teenagers out of their fight. “We cannot come to fighting now while we have our people fighting. We’ll have to think of something.”

 

“Wait.” said Zac standing up. “What if me and my sisters handle this?”

 

“You three?” Rita asked, already concerned for her daughter, Thalassa Santos.

 

“You know Zac does not have a bad idea.” said Zoe, standing with her little brother.

 

“Well I’m not sure about my daughter doing this.” said Rita. “She has enough going on.” Rita was one of the few people who knew about Thalie’s nighttime activities.

 

“Well Thalie or not.” said Zac. “Zoe and I are the Chosen Pair. So maybe we can talk with both sides.”

 

“Zac’s right.” said Zoe. “This could be a chance to be a man and a woman.”

 

“You both aren’t those yet.” said Raiden.

 

“Not if you guys don’t give us the chance to be.” said Zac.

 

There was a heavy pregnant pause, and it weighed on the room before Persephone agreed.

 

“You get your wish.” said Persephone. “Starting tomorrow.”

 

“Yes!” The twins shouted in unison, high fiving each other.

 

“Don’t screw this up Zac.” said Raiden seriously.

 

“Don’t worry cuz.” said Zac happily. “This’ll be a piece of cake.”

 

Oh was Zac going to eat his words…

 

The next day, before the twins could swim out, Zoe was having a hard time getting her brother out of grotto sea entrance

 

“Come on Zac!” Zoe said, pulling her brother by the arm but the merman decided to freeze his wet hand to the ledge.

 

“No.” He drawled. “I look like a loser.”

 

“You’re fine.” said Zoe, still trying to drag out her brother. “Do you see me complaining?”

 

“That’s because you’re a girl.” Zac argued.

 

“Come on.” Zoe tried teleporting using her Primary Power of teleportation via darkness. But unfortunately Zac was using his Primary Power of Force Field Projection via light.

 

Delta children tended to have special powers based on their personality. When it came to twins even Deltas, they tended to be polar opposites.

 

“If Cam sees me like this, I’ll never hear the end of it.” Zac deadpanned.

 

“It’s not  **that** bad.” said Zoe.

 

On his sculpted torso, was armor that was quite similar to Raiden’s; somewhat of Egyptian style crossed with a pauldon without the shoulder pads. Replacing the shoulder pads, was the brown light leather wrapping, holding the real armor in place. Gold straps on his chest, in an X appearance that covered down to his ribs, small deep yellow diamonds decorated the straps and in the middle of the X was a bright big sun with a fairly sized diamond the same color. On his forearms were armbands, exactly like Raiden’s except they had deep yellow diamonds decorated on each band in the shape of a sun.

 

“I look like a yellow glow stick!” Zac yelled.

 

“Hey.” Zoe chastised. “You did promise Aunt Persephone you would wear your formal attire at least once.”

 

“I know, I know.” Zac grumbled. “And for formal occasions for people to recognize my status as Royal. But is this necessary?”

 

“Let’s go.” She dragged her miserable little brother out of the grotto.

 

The day started off with Zac going to the South Island to discover a mermaid and a merman arguing.   
  


“I’m telling you, it’s a pearl for a lobster’s dozen!” A mermaid shouted.

 

“Bah!” A merman shouted. “Yesterday’s price was 10 shells!”

 

“Oh stop you lying cheat!” The mermaid shouted.

 

“You should talk!”

 

“What’s going on here?” Zac asked, swimming in front of them.

 

“This bitch is saying that for her catch of lobster, I have to pay a pearl when clearly she said, pay with shells!” The merman shouted. “And do I have a pearl on me? I don’t think so, and I’ve got a son to feed!”

 

“This one is lying!” The mermaid shouted. “I said a pearl! He’s making stuff up!”

 

“How about this?” Zack asked, pushing the mermaid and merman back from each other. “He pays with what he has now and he will be let off with a warning. And miss, a lobster does not cost a pearl.”

 

“I need to feed somehow.” said the mermaid.

 

“You know, if you set the prices lower, you can get more people to pay.” said Zac. “Does that sound fair?”

 

“I suppose.”

 

“Sure.”

 

Suddenly, a mermaid had burst through them, chasing a shark. 

 

“Oh come on!” Zac shouted, annoyed, diving after the kid.

 

Meanwhile, Zoe was having less luck.

 

“Damn! For sea turtles, they’re fast!” Zoe panted.

 

“What are you doing with my pets?” A mermaid shouted. “I’ve been looking for them everywhere!”

 

“Sorry!” Zoe called back, swimming with them to the owner.    
  


“You should mind your own things.” said the mermaid before swimming off.

 

“Ok! Ok! Whoa!” Zac shouted as he was accidentally whacked back.

 

“Get out! I’m trying to basket weave!”

 

“Enough of these mermaids!”

 

They were everywhere! Swimming off with food, clothing, personal possessions...basically, there was too many of them to keep track of.

 

Zac and Zoe had surfaced not far from Mako to clear their heads of the disaster.

 

“Remember when I said this would be a piece of cake?” Zac asked. “I really take it back. Being a prince is harder than it looks. I kind of feel sorry for Erik and Artifix.”

 

“Feel sorry for why?” They heard Carly’s voice near them. She was on a fishing boat with Cam. Apparently they were going on a date. Zac was too stressed to even care that Cam was there.

 

“Bit of advice.” Zac breathed out. “Don’t go near Mako or any of the islands. It’s in a word...shitty.”

 

“Why do you look like you walked out of a diamond mine?” Cam asked, trying not to snigger at the sight of his best friend.

 

Zac on the other hand, was fuming, and when angry, his eyes would glow blue. Zoe’s did too. “Can it Cam. I’m having a really, really, bad day.” A camera’s snap could be heard and Carly quickly put her phone in her pocket. “Carly! Do not let that go viral!”

 

“No, but it’s going on record.” said Carly.

 

“Look.” said Zoe. “Zac and I are trying to get things sorted between the mermaids and the mermen.”

 

“I get of needing to get used to new things.” said Carly. “But it’s been almost 5 months.”

 

“Old habits die hard.” said Zac.

 

That night, Zac was spending the weekend at the Central Island since it was Spring Break and his parents were away. His and Thalie’s foster parents. 

 

“Ugh.” Zoe moaned. “My aching everything!”

 

“Tell me about it.” said Zac. “And I can feel your pain. I mean  **everything** hurts. Even my armor. Which by the way, I’m not wearing for a long time.”

 

“Don’t be so sure.” said Zoe. “There is Erik’s coronation.”

 

“Which is not due for another 7 months.” said Zac. “So I get to spend some of my freedom now.” He lay down on the ledge, running his fingers through his curly hair. “Zoe, I don’t know how I’m gonna do this. I mean, being able to lead, I don’t know how you seem to do it so easily.”

 

“It really isn’t.” said Zoe. “Trust me, my first day when I moved to the Mako Pod. Disaster.”

 

“Speaking of which.” said Zac. “I’m gonna be seeing flaming coral in my sleep for the next month.”

 

“Children.” said Persephone swimming up to the cave Raiden was due to arrive in, where the Khatah twins were sleeping in. “What is going on? All the islands look like a war zone, and we haven’t had one for at least 5 months.”

 

“I know it looks bad, but Zoe and I have it covered.” said Zac. “We have a plan.”

 

“You do?” Persephone asked suspiciously, crossing her arms.

 

Immedeatley, knowing what her brother was thinking, chimed in saying, “Yeah. We had to study the conflict so we can resolve it.”

 

“Tell that to Ondina who had her entire class ruined on account of a prank.” said Zac. “Were never gonna hear the end of her rants about that.”

 

“Alright.” said Persephone believing their bluff. “But you better hurry.  Gyűlölet has the whole clan in a stir and if we don’t get this settled, it’ll be history repeating itself.”

 

Meanwhile, in the Secret Sanctum, deep beneath the Santos House, the Sirens Creed was in the living room discussing plans on what to do for the clan. Xandou volunteered to stay at the clan to send messages to Xhiva twin style in case something went wrong.

 

“Guys!” Thalie, the group’s leader exclaimed. “I like all of your ideas, but we’re missing the main problem here; everyone is out of control and now we’re turning to that point. Raiden’s family has been doing the best they can but they’re gonna need more help.”

 

“Thalie’s right.” said Xhiva. “They’re tearing each other apart, sometimes quite literally. We want to live with each other, we just don’t know how to adapt to each other’s lifestyles.”

 

“Xhiva this isn’t about two people.” said Raiden. “We’re talking hundreds,  **hundreds** of merpeople!”

 

“Well they’ve been blowing stuff up so we need to do something about it.” said Kimi. 

 

Unfortunately, a certain adrenaline junkie or two took it the wrong way. “Blowing stuff up?” Diablo asked excited. “Now we’re talking!”

 

“No that’s not what we meant.” said Helen. “Although that’s not a bad idea.”

 

“I’ll never understand your fetish for demolition.” Kimi said, rolling her eyes.

 

“Well we could hold a meeting.” said Rose. 

 

“Like the one we’re holding now?” Thalie asked interested.

 

“Yeah but it would involve the whole clan.” said Rose.

 

“How would we get all the islands in one place?” Kimi asked.

 

Raiden was about to reply when Xhiva cried out, holding his head.

 

“You ok?” Kimi asked her boyfriend.

 

“It’s Xandou.” Xhiva said holding his head. “There’s trouble at the North Island.”

 

“Let’s go help him.” said Thalie running with the team to the water entrance and speedswam to the North Island, only to find, potions blowing up, people arguing and the food cave blown up.

 

“Everything’s gone!” yelled Ondina. “Now we’ll have nothing for 2 months!”

 

“I can’t believe this!” Xandou yelled, covered in soot.

 

“What happened man?” Diablo asked. 

 

“Some things are better left out.” said Xandou.

 

At that moment, Gyűlölet decided to make her apparence. “See? I warned you lot! I warned you all! But did you listen to me? No you did not!”

 

“Gyűlölet, stay out of this!” Ondina shouted.

 

“Caging is the only thing for these mermen!” Gyűlölet shouted.

 

Diablo growled, literally, due to his werewolf heritage, his eyes glowing bright amber. He had to be held back by Helen, Raiden, Thalie and Xhiva. 

 

The mention of a cage even brought out Diablo’s wolf side. As a child, Diablo had been put into a animal cage twice. Once by werewolf hunters when he was 6 years old, another by his own zealously misandrist mother, Veridia. 

 

“The only person who belongs in a cage is you!” Helen shouted.

 

“How dare you come here and rub in these people’s faces the mistakes of the past!” Thalie shouted.

 

“Everyone!” Phoebus shouted nearby. “We need to get more of that food!”

 

“It’s too late.” said Maya. “It took 6 cycles to get all that in store.”

 

“We have to keep trying!” Persephone shouted diving back in, leaving the teens very, very worried.

 

Later that night, Raiden was in Thalie’s room with her, trying to take a breather over the catastrophic day. Zac was with his girlfriend, Evie. He had helped her get there anyway since she had trouble swimming. At the Battle For Mako, she had lost her foot after it was brutally injured and it had to be amputated and replaced with a  metal prosthetic. Unfortunately, even with a fake fin, she couldn’t swim very well and had to have help whenever she swam. They hadn’t been able to get her an assistance dolphin so Zac volunteered to be her swim helper.

 

“I’m not cut out for this prince stuff.”  Raiden complained.

 

Thalue looked at him appalled. “Raiden, don’t say that.”

 

“Thals, I screwed up.” said Raiden. “My mother was counting on me-on us. This prince isn’t what he used to be. My criminal record still has it’s toll.” 

 

“Stop it.” Thaie held his hands and looked him in the eye. Deep blue met bright purple. “Raiden, you can’t forget your past, but you have to let it go. I know you’ve been through a lot, I understand what that is like, but right now, your people need you and your family. Being someone, having something to do, is not about birthright or entitlement. It’s about doing what’s right for your people because it’s what is best for them. A prince is not someone who is the child of a king or a relative to one. He is someone who people look up to because he displays all the traits that person wants to be.

 

“I’m not exactly a role model.” Raiden said dejectedly. 

 

“I meant before Raiden.” said Thalie. “You may have had a crappy past, but you’re a survivor and now you’re an inspiration for so many people even if they don’t realize it.”

 

“Thanks Thalie” **_._ ** Raiden leaned in and hugged his girlfriend which she returned.

 

“I don’t know what we’re gonna do about this whole ordeal.” said Thalie sadly. “So much time and culture has shaped so many lives for generations. I mean, here we are, trying to pretend that the horrors over a thousand years hasn’t happened but we can’t ignore it. Time is nature and sometimes, there’s no point in arguing with it.”

 

Raiden shot up, an idea swarming in his head like a rushing tide. “Wait, say that again.”

 

“Nature always wins?” Thalie asked.

 

“That’s it!” Raiden shouted with glee. “That’s what we’ve been missing!”

 

“What have we’ve been missing?” Thalie asked.

 

“Nature!” said Raiden, excited. “Look, we’ve been trying to impose a new way of life on everyone even ourselves without realizing that we’re all gonna do, what we’re gonna do, even the mermen. It’s our nature. We just need to learn how to use it.” He hugged Thalie and enveloped her in a quick yet passionate kiss. “God, I love you. Come on!” He dragged Thalie out of her room and into the sea.

 

The next day, Mulch and Bane were with their fishing nets that they stole from the marine, trying to get more fish in the deep blue. It would take forever to get all of that fish, but they had to try.

 

“Nothing.” said Bane when they surfaced.

 

“Come on Bane.” said Mulch. “We’ve got to try.”

 

“It would take a miracle to get 6 moon cycles of fish.” Bane said pessimistically.

 

And a miracle would come. In the deep blue, Helen lit herself with heat, red and gold light covering her body as she grabbed Xandou’s arms and filled him up with her heat and in a snap, Xandou was off, at a speed of near Mach 1.

 

One of the downsides of being the child of an Omega mermaid or merman was that although you had a great power, you also had a great weakness. Your Primary Power along with the rest of your powers, would be tied to a weakness and strength. Xandou’s for example, relied on heat. The hotter he was, the faster he went.

 

The velocity of Xandou Tiraken was enough to scare up a year’s worth of fish!

 

**_Thanks mate!_ ** Mulch shouted through the mind link.

 

**_That’s right!_ ** Xandou boasted. **_That happened!_ **

 

**_We’ll see you!_ ** Helen called out.

 

On the other side of Mako, was Gyűlölet trying to farm her crops near some rocks when a voice yelled out,  **_NOW!_ **

 

She had to swim out of the way when lightning hit some random spots where she was going to plant her seaweed and a sharp water wave came and sliced the spots where the lightning hit and created a line of work.

 

**_What are you buffoons doing?_ **

 

**_3 o clock!_ ** Xhiva’s voice rang out. **_Time for the fertilizer!_ **

 

**_Fertilizer?_ ** She asked.

 

_ Ok Delphin!  _ Thalie said to her dolphin friend and his pod in dolphin tongue.  _ Let her rip! _

 

Sure enough, the dolphins heeded their calls of nature into the sliced sand spots. Gyűlölet, being the grump she was, was not happy at all

 

**_Smile Gyűlölet!_ ** Thalie shouted.  **_We just saved you 2 and a half months of work!_ **

 

Meanwhile, Rose, Kimi and Diablo were busy scaring some whales back into their territory and helping other islands with their stuff such as potions and people. 

 

They all met near the North Island.

 

“Amazing!” Kimi shouted.

 

“That was awesome!” Helen exclaimed.

 

“Nice!” The twins shouted in unison.

 

“Raiden how did you know this was gonna work?” Thalie asked.

 

“Because we’re merpeople and people are gonna do what people are gonna do.” said Raidn non chalantly. “We just have to work  **with** it and not against it.”

 

“What is going on here?” They all heard the angry voice of Persephone, who had surfaced near them and looked livid with her infamous steely gaze. “Raiden Antonio Bauman-Consorzio, you have  **lot** of explaining to do.”

 

_ Yep.  _ Thalie thought. _ We’re dead. _

 

On the Queen’s orders, the group of merteens with the Royal Family had gathered in the grotto, all kids sitting down to await their punishment. Rita was also looking stern.

 

“What’s she gonna do to us?” Rose asked.

 

“Nothing we haven’t faced before.” Helen said soothingly.

 

“I’m to badass for jail.” Xandou muttered.

 

“Who told you that?” Xhiva challenged.

 

“You all snuck behind my back.” said Persephone. “Which means there will be consequences.”

 

“I told you we were gonna get into trouble.” Kimi whispered to Raiden. “At least someone thought this through.”

 

“Mother if anyone is going down it should be me.” Raiden said standing up.

 

“No.” said Persephone authoritatively. “You all played a part in this.”

 

“Your Majesty.” said Thalie. “If I may, I was the one who gave Raiden the idea. The fault is mine.”

 

“As I just said.” Persephone put her hand up. “You  **all** had a hand in this. You conspired against the clan. You performed activities without consulting me or anyone in the court. Things are going to change around here. That’s why-”

 

“You’re all given a chance to be a part of the advisor court.” said Rita.

 

“I was gonna tell them that!” Persephone said slightly annoyed but laughed a little anyway.

 

“Sorry I couldn’t hold it in.” said Rita. 

“Getting back on topic.” said Persephone. “The people are getting along more than ever! I have never been more proud of you all and there has never been a much more peacful start to a new clan! You all, including Zac and Zoe, who couldn’t be here today, have all made me very proud. Including you Raiden.”

 

“We will consider taking the position.” said Kimi kindly. “But thank you Your Majesty.”

 

“Now all you have to do.” Rita said to her daughter. “Is give advice.”

 

“Not a problem.” said Thalie. “Besides, I’ve got my friends now, and new ones too. I’ve got a feeling we’re gonna make more along the way.”

 

That evening, the North Island was storing off supplies and getting ready for the night. Mermaids and mermen were not arguing but helping one another.

 

_ Because of time and different teachings.  _ Thalie narrated.  _ Mermen and mermaids can’t changed on how they were raised. _

 

In the South Island, everyone was getting ready to go to bed when a mermaid accidentally stepped her hand on an urchin and a merman nearby took care of her. They didn’t know it, but a spark was forming between them.

 

_ But who cares about the past anymore? When you grow, there’s only one way to go, and that’s forward. _

 

In Guardia and Mako Island, all was well and peace had never been so enjoyed.

 

In the Central Island, when morning came, the people got up and were ready to start the new day.

 

_ Merpeople together, are strong, kind, powerful, amazing creatures.. _

 

The Mako Gang was out on a swim, enjoying the view and excited to see all the work that they had done was beginning to pay off.

 

_ But we are also survivors. Which means that out of the obstacles we all face, there is a chance that we can now build a bridge to help us cross into a better and brighter future. And while we build that bridge, we’re gonna learn everything there is to know about each other. Wouldn’t you? _

 

**RESTORATION**

 

It was a quiet normal night in the city of the Gold Coast. The dogs were barking here and there, and the streets were full of busy people driving from work or to parties. Overall, the nightlife was it’s usual liveliness. It was a night that started like any other but ending changing the course of many lives.

 

Carly Morgan was out from her late shift at the Ocean Cafe, emerging from a frozen yogurt shop with a cup of tasty strawberry yogurt. She was enjoying it when she heard growling in the nearby alley. Relying on her instincts, she started to walk away when she heard the struggles of a little boy as if he was in pain.

“Hello?” Carly asked, when she was in front of the cowering boy in the alley. 

The boy looked to be about 12 years old, wearing a green hoodie, brown cargo pants and brown sandals. He had dark brown curly hair which his small hands kept running through.

“Are you ok?” Carly asked, walking towards him. 

“Get away from me.” The boy’s voice sounded like it was losing its humanity.

“I can get help.” said Carly. “Do you wanna go to a hospital? Do you want me to call your parents?”

“No.” The boy struggled to make out. “I..have to….get back...to my pack. Tauna..need...me”

“Ok.” said Carly, trying to comfort the boy but he pushed her back and walked behind a dumpster.

“Kid.” said Carly gently. “I don’t know any Tauna Pack but I know you’re hurt in some way.” An animalistic snarl could be heard behind the dumpster. “I can help you if you’ll just trust me and come out.”

Suddenly, the growling stopped. There was silence in the air, hanging like cloth on a line. Fearing the worst for the kid’s sake, she walked behind the dumpster only to be attacked by the kid, whose face had changed to almost a wolf’s!

Scared for her life, Carly tried to get away only for the wolf kid to grasp her by the leg and she felt a hot sharp pain in one of her legs. Without thinking, she slapped the kid in the face and managed to escape, forgetting her purse, running as fast as she could, as far from the wolf kid as she could.

Near some stores, far from the alley, all the adrenaline left Carly as the pain from her leg began to creep into her mind.

She looked down, lifted her pants up, and there it was. On her right calf, was a large bite mark, sluggishly bleeding.

“What’s up with him?” Carly wondered aloud, walking back to get her purse. But she stopped to think: What if the wolf kid was still there? It was better to lose her purse than her life so she went home.

It was then Carly heard something strange;

The Howl of A Wolf.

  
  



	2. Cat Moon

Carly woke up in the warm comfort of her bed, feeling slightly strange. Not strange as in sick, but strange...as in more awake than she should have been. She usually wasn't this awake until either her morning jog or her morning cup of coffee.

Shrugging it off, she went into the bathroom in the hall, and showered for a brief short time, her fingers tracing over the bandage covering her bite mark from last night as she doused her hair in shampoo. She looked at her arm housing the bite and it was still red from the blood seeping out last night.

 _What was wrong with that kid?_ Carly wondered. _I tried to help him and instead, I get a kid who goes all savage and bites me on the arm with his fangs. If I could have just went home and not lost my purse._

It had hurt, but luckily she was able to get to Dr. Blakely's office which was not too far from where she was bitten. Turning off the faucet and grabbing the nearest towel, she dried herself and it was by the time that she had only her shirt left to put on, that she stared in shock at the person staring back at her in the mirror, that probably wasn't even her!

"Is this me?" She wondered out loud.

The girl in the mirror, was a goddess. Her skin was angelic, creamy and smooth. Any wrinkle or blemish on her face was gone. Her hair was longer, even though she had a haircut a month ago, and softer in gorgeous wavy drapes. Her eyes, were a more bright green as if she was seeing a forest of trees in them. Looking down, she started to question if Carly was actually dreaming or dead. Her breasts had grown bigger to a C cup. On her torso, her curves were much more defined as any sign of fat was gone and replaced with muscle. Even her hips had gotten a little wider, not too wide but just a little bit. Her legs were delicate and toned like a dancer.

In short, Carly looked nothing short, of a cougar.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

"Carly!' Shouted the voice of her little brother, Liam. "You've been in there all morning, let me in!"

"Ok! OK!" Carly exclaimed opening the bathroom to the 13 year old blonde boy who went to heed the call of nature.

As Carly walked out, fully dressed, she noticed one more feature that surprised her of all. Her fingernails were sharp, as if manicured. But that was impossible, she had them cut yesterday.

Before heading down, she went to put in her contacts and when she did, her vision was cloudy. Blinking rapidly, she pulled them out only to realize that she could see clearly!

Deciding to try a little experiment, she put on her old glasses and her vision was also messed up with them and when she took them off, she realized she didn't need them anymore! What was going on with her this morning? She didn't have time to think as her stomach growled from the lack of food and her face snapped to the hallway as the overpowering smell of food downstairs.

Without a second thought, she ran downstairs like a speeding bullet and straight into the kitchen where her mother was making Sunday breakfast.

"Morning gal." Her mom greeted cheerfully.

"Morning Mom." Carly said while grabbing a plate and picking off most of the meal and began wolfing down her food, groaning in pleasure with each bite.

By the time she was finished, her mother was looking at her as though she grew wings, so shocked that she had even dropped the pan with eggs without even realizing it.

"What?" Carly asked annoyed.

"Carly." said Pamela. Morgan. "That was...sausage...with your eggs."

Carly furrowed her eyebrows. "So?"

"You're a vegetarian." said Pamela.

"I am?" Carly asked looking down on her plate and laughing a little. "I don't know why I am or was, this is amazing!" She dug into her cup of orange juice.

"Alright." said Ms. Morgan dismissing it, cleaning up his mess. "Remember, you have to take Liam to soccer practice because I have to go to a meeting."

"Alright." said Carly.

"Oh and I **better** not see any closed doors whenever Cam is in the house." said Pamela.

"Mom, seriously?" Carly asked, trying not to smile.

"I'm just taking precautions." said Pamela setting out Liam's plate.

"Thanks Mom." said Liam.

Just as she was at the door she yelled out just as Liam was sipping his milk, "Use protection, Carly!"

Carly let out an annoyed groan at her mother and it got worse when Liam asked, "Protection against what?"

Carly wished she could melt into a puddle and never come up. Liam was nowhere near being a teenager and Carly **really** did not want to have this conversation with him. Luckily, she had an ace up her sleeve.

"Against from getting bit by another crazy animal." said Carly, lifting her leg to show the bandaged wound.

"What animal?" Liam asked curiously, looking at her leg with undivided attention.

"Some kind of wolf." said Carly, shrugging her shoulders.

Liam took out his phone and tapped it a few times before grinning like an idiot. "Well look at that, tomorrow night's a full moon. Who knows? You might turn into a werewolf then?"

Carly gave her brother a look. "Really?"

"Sucks to be you." said Liam.

"Go get your stuff."

When Liam ran upstairs to get his bag and Carly wondered if she should take her bite seriously. What if something was happening to her? She felt fine, other than her craving for meat. _Stay calm Carly and focus, there's nothing wrong with you._

"I'm ready." Liam's voice broke him out of her thoughts.

The Morgan siblings walked along the sidewalk and in no time, they arrived at the football field of Suncoast High School.

"Remember." Carly told Liam. "I'm gonna be at the cafe if you need me-"

"But I'll be at Mason's." Liam said annoyed and running off. "Yeah yeah."

Carly could only roll her eyes at her annoying little brother. But suddenly, it was as if time was slowing down. When someone had kicked a ball and it was heading towards Carly. She, on pure instinct, grabbed the ball within seconds. Everybody turned their heads around to see a confused Carly wondering how she had managed to catch a soccer ball with cat like reflexes.

"Nice catch!" She heard the little girl shout. "Throw it back!"

She did so and it went all the way to the other side. She left, thinking, _Maybe I have a chance to win the fundraiser tournament Friday._

As she left, one of the coaches shouted, "Someone ask her if she's ever played soccer!"

People quickly went back to their business when one of the coaches marched up to Liam and shoved the ball Carly caught to Liam.

"One of you is gonna give me an explanation for this." Coach Norris snarled angrily.

On the now deflated soccer ball, were five deep claw marks.

As Carly walked back, she started walking towards the ocean cafe. But as she approached the city, her pace started going faster, and she felt this primal animalistic urge to run. And so she did.

The wind on her face, the ground beneath her shoes, time slowing down for Carly as she ran and ran faster than she ever had in her life. She didn't care about the people staring at the slight blur on the streets. To her, she was on the hunt, nothing could stop her. Without even realizing it, she ran into an alley to take a shortcut, jumped on the wall, jumped off while performing a flip and landing catlike.

She took a second to take a breath and it was then, she came back to her human senses and laughed gleefully.

"Whoo!" She yelled out, walking towards the cafe.

What was going on with her? She wondered.

 _Who cares?_ She thought. _I've got freaking acrobatic skills!_

But on the boardwalk, things would take a turn down Creepsville as Carly walked down the boardwalk...and had every boy and even a few girls drooling at her. Carly looked at her clothes wondering why she was suddenly the center of attention. She wasn't wearing anything revealing-although now she was starting to regret wearing a pink v-neck shirt.

"Whoo Carly." a boy came up to her. "Smokin'!"

"Who are you?" Carly asked.

"Josh Groban." He said flirtingly, grabbing her hand. "Sophomore rugby captain at Suncoast. Wanna go out?"

"Get away from me." Carly pushed him back. For some reason, she felt the need to prove who was the boss of her. Realizing that she was starting to draw attention to herself, she started to walk when a voice called out,

"Carly!" Running to Carly was her best friend Evangeline "Evie" McLaren, her metal foot was squeaking as she ran to the blonde Australian.

"Carly!" said Evie. "I've been trying to call you, why haven't you been answering?"

"Long story short." Carly began. "I lost it after getting bit."

"Bit by what?" Evie asked, immediately concerned for her best friend. "Are you ok?"

"A bit sore but I'm fine." said Carly. Evie hadn't been this concerned since Carly found out that she was a mermaid.

"Can I see it at least?" Evie asked.

Carly nodded, lifting her right calf that was now bandaged with some blood on it.

"Whoa that looks nasty." said Evie.

"It's not that bad." said Carly now walking to the cafe with Evie. "It was too dark to see much but I'm pretty sure that some wolf kid bit me."

"A what bit you?" Diablo asked coming towards them.

"What brings you by?" Carly asked the Latino merman.

"I'm just getting some breakfast." said Diablo. "I hear you said a werewolf bit you?"

"Well if you put it that way, yes." said Carly.

He immediately shook his head. "Nope. Not a chance."

"I heard a wolf howling." said Carly.

"No you did not." said Diablo stubbornly.

"What do you mean no I didn't?" said Carly. "How do you know what I heard if you weren't even there?"

"Because there aren't any werewolves near coastal regions." said Diablo. "Ok, not in 3 thousand years."

"Really?" Evie asked suspiciously.

"Yes really." said Diablo. "There are no werewolves in the Gold Coast." He went inside, as a mean to end the conversation.

"What's up with him?" Carly asked her eyebrows furrowing.

"Beats me." said Evie. "But enough about him, look at you Carly! You look so beautiful!"

"Well I can say I literally woke up like this." said Carly. "After losing my purse instead of my life. But it's ok. My life is better than my driver's license, cell phone, wallet, ID and money."

"It's ok Carly." said Evie comfortingly. "We'll get you a new purse with those new things. I'm just glad to have my best friend alive. Let's go to work so we can practice on break."

Her shift in the cafe was greeted by her boyfriend who kissed her as a greeting.

"You...look amazing." Cam Mitchell said, dressed in his lifeguard uniform.

"Thanks Cam." said Carly. "Do you want anything?"

"No I'm good." He said, going off to his job. Spring break was almost over and there was not a lot of time for freedom yet.

"Good." said Carly going over behind the counter to start working. Carly worked as a waitress, Evie was the shop manager, Rosalina Gomez was one of the cooks and David owned the cafe.

As time went by, Carly's shift was pretty normal and nothing out of the ordinary occurred. At least unti a ringing noise reached Carly's ears. It sounded like a cell phone She looked around, trying to find the source of this strange noise. The problem was, no one in the cafe was calling someone, so she went outside and found Joe making a call to some of his investors. Joe Sullivan was David's older brother.

"Doug, I told you, I need that cargo in by Tuesday." Joe's agitated voice reached Carly's ears. Joe was 5 feet away from her and she could hear every word as if she was standing right next to him. "What do you mean you can't get it in? You better get that seafood in or else you'll find yourself without a job."

She went inside, still hearing every conversation, every click of the cup, every clink of a dress hanger, every beep of a cell phone and even a beeping from the kitchens. Running into said part of the cafe, she could smell smoke coming from the stove but Rose had beat her to it.

"You ok?" Carly asked.

"I'm fine." the blonde Latina replied. "What's up with you today?"

Carly sighed and said, "I don't know."

Time passed and soon, the noon break commenced which meant Carly was free to go to the beach with Evie and Rose. Zac, Ondina, Helen, Rose, Thalie and Xhiva had volunteered to help Carly practice for the Breast Cancer Volleyball Fundraiser Tournament which was in tomorrow. No actual prizes were given, but it was a great support for a good cause. It was organized by the Class of 2016 class council. Only girls were allowed to participate. Carly and Evie had volunteered to participate as well as Thalie and her friends. Ondina surprisingly volunteered as well. Cam couldn't help out because of his job, but he could referee.

"Thanks for helping us out." Thalie said to the boys.

"No problem." said Zac. "We could use the exercise, right Xhiva?" He eyed the Indian boy, whose shaggy hair was blowing in the wind.

"Hey." said Xhiva. "One day of surfing the net isn't gonna kill anybody."

"You do that almost every day." said Helen. "So Zac's right, you need a rehab from your addiction to technology."

"I am not addicted to it!" Xhiva exclaimed. "I am in love with it."

"I though you were in love with Kimi." said Helen smugly.

Xhiva's already dark ears were getting close to black. "That's different."

"Alright guys!" Cam shouted from his lifeguard stand. "You ready?"

Zac, Helen, Xhiva, and Thalie were all on one side, Carly, Ondina, Rose, and Evie on the other. Zac had the ball in his hand and was ready to serve.

"Three, two.." Cam blew his whistle. Rosalina, who was the Omega of Air, naturally had enhanced hearing from her wind powers but she learned to control her enhanced hearing and sense of smell. However, for Carly's newly developed senses; not so much as Carly, groaned in pain, her palms closing off her ears as she tried to block out the noise.

To add to Carly's misfortune, Zac had served the ball right at the whistle and it ended up hitting Carly in the face.

"Ooh." Helen winced. "That's gonna leave a mark."

"You ok?" Evie asked.

"I'm fine." Carly said rolling the ball under the net. "Zac, don't do that again please!"

"Sorry." He called out, "It's instinct."

"Instinct, schimstinct." Xhiva said. "Now that we're all good, can we resume?"

Zac served the ball again, Evie threw hit it back. Another serve, Ondina hit it back. But when Zac served a third time, Carly surprisingly hit it so far, it went past Cam's chair.

Everyone all turned around and gaped at Carly who looked at the hand she used to hit the ball with the great force that hit it and looked at her friends, smiling at her newfound luck. The others had various reactions. Thalie, Rose, Evie, Cam and Zac were all grinning at Carly's improving skills while Thalie was getting the ball. Ondina and Xhiva were frowning, because they knew something was up. They weren't idiots. Helen was both. She was proud of Carly but she was a bit confused and she knew that no one could hit a ball that far. Carly wasn't really a sports girl but she did keep in shape. She was more of a girly girl and it seemed that the bite she had gotten last night was changing her in some way.

The practice game resumed, Thalie served the ball, which Ondina hit to Carly who hit it and it struck to the ground. One by one, as each team served, as every other player passed the ball, Carly would occasionally surprise everybody with her new found skills, including a sudden front handspring and kicked the ball forward.

She had never felt more alive. It was as if something inside of her, another Carly was thanking her as if that side of Carly had been crying for this all day long. She didn't know it, but the animal in her was snarling in glee at the action and adrenaline. She relaxed more as she could barely feel the throb of her bite.

Next, came the one-on-one practice round. Carly Morgan versus Helen Carter. The black British girl was a black belt in martial artists, one of the most competitive girls in the entire Gold Coast, and when someone pissed off Helen or faced her as she was one of the best fighters among the merpeople, that person would be dead meat to the Fire Omega.

Helen, in her red bikini, cracked her knuckles, while grinning sadistically. Carly though, was scared out of her wits and could swear she could hear the echoed breathing. "Oh God." she whispered.

Time slowed down suddenly, as Helen ran, the white volleyball in her hand, the rest of the teams on the sides watching intently, Cam, gripping his seat and Carly standing like a cat about to attack it's prey. The world moved in slow motion as Helen jumped, hit the ball down and Carly, at extraordinary speed, caught the ball while sliding perfectly with her feet like safeguards.

The rest of the teams cheered for Carly who looked at the ball and performed an aerial while tossing the ball to Cam who caught it. But he didn't care as he came down from his chair and hugged his girlfriend.

"THIS IS MY GIRLFRIEND!" He yelled out joyfully.

"Cam!" Carly laughed.

"That was amazing Carly!" Evie exclaimed.

But only Xhiva, whose best friend was a merman and a werewolf, knew something was up.

The group slipt up and Carly went with Evie to go back to work.

"Carly you were so incredible!" Evie said when Carly handed her a juice. "Are you on coffee?"

"I don't know what it is." said Carly. "It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball. Like the whole game was in slow mo and everything was super focused. But that's not the only weird thing that's been happening to me. I can hear stuff I shouldn't be able to hear, smell things."

"Smell things?" Evie asked. "Like what?"

Carly took a moment before saying, "Like the traces of vanilla shampoo in your hair."

Evie sniffed her hair, and to her great surprise, Carly was actually right! "How?"

Carly only shrugged.

"So all of this started with a bite." said Evie.

Carly nodded. "Part of me is glad this is happening but the other part is kind of freaked out."

"Girls." David said. "I don't mean to be this kind of manager but we've got customers."

"Sorry David." said Carly and Evie as they went back to work.

"What were you and Evie talking about?" David asked.

"Oh it's quite a long story." said Carly, storing glasses. "I get this bite last night and then suddenly, I become a volleyball professional and a fast runner."

"Must be adrenaline." said David. "Or maybe whatever bit you gave you confidence."

"Hey, I do pretty good on my own." said Carly in mock hurt.

David only laughed as he and Carly went into the cool room.

"How are you dealing with the whole...fish people thing?" Carly asked.

"It's been a little hard." said David, stocking some food. "I mean accepting it and seeing this whole new world of the sea and that pretty much all of my friends are magical is a lot to stomach. But I really miss Sirena. I just wished I could have helped her in some way. I just miss her a lot." He started to blink out a few tears. Who could forget Sirena's coma? No one could. Everyone missed the blonde singer terribly.

"Come here." Carly spread out her arms and embraced David in a hug. "It's alright. We've got you. I don't know how long it will be but I've got a feeling Sirena will be back, and she'll be more than happy to see you."

"Thank you." said David, wiping away a few tears.

As Carly left Cam called her over with a serious look on his face. "Carly, Xhiva just came and talked to me."

"And?" She asked now worried.

"You may have Lycanthropy." said Cam.

"What?" Carly asked.

Her boyfriend smiled. "Kidding!"

Carly smirked and gave him a light shove. "Not funny Mitchell."

"Hey." said Cam following Carly to the counter. "According to Evie, you're the one who heard a wolf howling."

"Cam that's not funny." Carly said trying not to laugh while making a milkshake. "For all I know, there could be something seriously wrong with me."

"I know Carly!" said Cam jokingly. "You're a werewolf! Rawr!" He made imaginary claws with his fingers. "I'm just kidding."

It wasn't until later, that things started to become even more stranger for Carly. The rest of her day went smoothly until sundown, when Carly's day of work was over and she went to the bathroom to change her bandage with the kit she borrowed from Dr. Blakeley. She sat down on the floor, which luckily was clean, set out the kit and removed the bloody bandage from her calf only to be hit with a great surprise.

The bite wound was healed. No, not healed, gone! As far as she could see, there was nothing to be seen on her peach skin.

 _But where did the bite marks go?_ She wondered. _It was there this morning._ She got up, leaned back, and using her arms as support, she leaned into a perfect gymnast bridge. She leaned her head back as far as she could to take a closer look only to find nothing that was on her smooth skin. No scabs, no scars- **nothing**. It was as if last night had never even happened.

"What the hell?" Carly whispered, her brows rising to her hairline

She pushed with her arms, brought her legs up and she found herself standing.

 _When did I get so flexible?_ She mused to herself.

She walked outside, passing by Mr. Carson, Zac's neighbor and waved him hello. But from his dog, she didn't get such greeting. Instead, the dog started going nuts around her, growling and barking at her as if trying to ward her off because she was a threat. It was starting to freak Carly out so she ran across the boardwalk.

"That's an experience I'll never get out of my head." Carly whispered.

Walking by the park, she heard a little kitty meow nearby. It was a small orange tabby cat and when Carly approached it, it seemed to take a defensive stance.

"Hey Kitty." said Carly sweetly. "Where's your owner?" The cat yowled and hissed at her. "It's ok, I'm not gonna hurt you." The cat continued to move away from her until Carly made eye contact with it. Without realizing it, Carly's eyes started to change for a moment; the pupil shrank until it became slit and the green in her eyes filled to a bright gold. And just as it came, the cat submitted and went into Carly's arms like a child seeking it's mother.

Carly chuckled, petting the kitty, unaware that by then, her eyes were back to normal.

"Max!" A little girl shouted running around the park.

"Excuse me." said Carly a little wary because of what happened last night. "Is this cat yours?"

"Yeah thanks!" The little girl said happily, taking the orange cat. "I've been looking for you Max!"

"Two words." said Carly to the little girl. "Name collar."

Meanwhile that night, a very important meeting was taking place in the grotto. All of Carly's friends, The Siren's Creed, The Marino parents,and Rita were all there. Even Jacob was on Skype Call. The subject of matter? Carly, or yet, what she was.

"Ok." said Xandou. "I'm gonna ask once: what the hell is going on?"

"Actually I'd like to know too." said Zoe, fiddling with her black dress.

"And I'd like to know how this is even possible that werewolves can exist." said Zac.

"You're the one talking, merman." Cam countered.

"Boys!" Jacob's voice sounded. "Enough."

"Diablo." said Rita. "Do you know anything?"

"Not much." He said. "My uncle Tulio is a merman so we weren't part of a pack and I never learned much. I had to learn it on my own. But I do know this: Werewolves are highly migratory, sometimes travelling every 10 years. And when they do, they send a scout to make sure that the civilization near is safe."

"What confuses me." said Xhiva. "Is why a were-shifter pack is in the Gold Coast, a place that's near merpeople when we have a peace treaty that's more than a thousand years old."

"Do you know anything Mom and Dad?" Onidna asked her parents.

"We do know some things about werewolves." said Esmeralda.

"Yeah we encountered a few packs in our travels when we were your age." Jacob's voice sounded.

"Along with a group or 2 of rather nasty vampires." Pheobus chimed in, wincing at the memory.

"Vampires?!" Zac exclaimed.

"Long story." said Esme quickly. "But the point is, only an Alpha can turn a human, it's how they create packs. So my question is, how is it possible that from what Evie described, a 12 year old Beta scout was able to administer the Bite?"

"I think I speak for everyone when I ask the question that hasn't been asked." said Xhiva. "How do we know for sure that Carly is a werewolf when the full moon hasn't even passed yet?"

"She's something ok?" Cam asked annoyed.

"Shouldn't we tell Carly what we think?" Kimi asked. "It would be illogical to not include her in this conversation."

"The snow queen has a point." said Helen. "Carly should be in on this, this is her we're talking about."

"Because until we know something," said Thalie. "We're walking on eggshells. Like Cam said, she's something, but we don't know what. Which is why tomorrow, at the volleyball game, we have to keep an eye on her."

"Can't Diablo sniff her out?" Zoe asked.

"My werewolf heritage doesn't kick in until the full moon." said Diablo.

"So that's it." said Rose optimistically. "We keep Carly behind locked doors and teach her to push through the moon spell."

"It's not that simple Rose." said Raiden. "There's a reason why werewolves are depicted as bloodthirsty creatures. The moon brings out only one emotion in them; anger."

"When it comes to rage." said Helen. "That is not a good thing. The longer you suppress your emotion-"

"The bigger the explosion." said Rita finishing Helen.

"Still, Raiden has a point." said Diablo. "A werewolf's first full moon is not like ours. It's violent, agressive and bestail. Those horror movies of werewolves being monsters, they're true on the first full moon. Once they transform, they will **not** remember who they are or any of you. Any sign of their humanity is gone. We have to chain her up. It's the only way."

"Ok why are we talking about Carly as if she's some rabid animal?" Cam asked. "She's my girlfriend, she's the coolest person I've ever met!"

"She won't be on the full moon." said Xandou.

"What if she recognizes us?" Zac asked. "What if she can be saved? There has to be a way, this is Carly. We can't leave her like this because she's a werewolf."

"She will be saved." said Diablo. "If we keep her locked up."

"Guys this isn't some dog you can just put down." said Evie. "This is a **person** -you're talking about chaining up an girl who has done nothing wrong."

"She won't be innocent if she kills someone." said Xhiva.

"She can be helped, but not like this." said Thalie.

"Thalie are you out of your mind?" said Ondina. "You don't know what she's capable of!"

"Guys I am so sorry that I'm apparently not listenting to reason." said Thalie. "But are you hearing yourselves? Carly Morgan is not some wild animal-she's a freaking human being!"

"Deja vu." Rita whispered to Esme.

"How about this." said Rita. "We'll all watch Carly tomorrow and see how she does. If she's not a werewolf, we'll leave it at that, if she is, we'll see what we'll do. But if she is, we are telling her. We cannot afford to have any more secrets rip us apart."

"Well she could be a vampire." Kimi suggested. "I mean did you see the way those boys were drooling over her?"

"First of all, you would have to be a fresh corpse in order to be turned into a vampire." said Zoe. "Second, if she was a vampire, she would have drank blood from some of us by now."

The next morning, Carly woke up scowling at pretty much everything and not even bothering to care that her bed was now sliced with claw marks. Everything about her mood today seemed to be

 _Angry._ She thought. _Why am I so angry? I don't get this moody even on my period._

She looked into the mirror and screamed

Later that afternoon, the beach was packed with people, women, men, boys and girls of all ages. Most of the people were wearing pink shirts, flyers in the stands, merchandise was sold, and of course, cotton candy was served.

The volleyball team was being set up. One team wore white, while another wore pink.

"This is the last time I wear pink." Helen growled.

"I don't know Helen." said Evie teasingly. "It's a good color on you. I might suggest new clothes."

"Don't even think about it." said Helen smiling at the good nature of her friend.

"Alright guys." said Carly irritated. "Let's get this over with."

"What is with you today?" Thalie asked.

"Is it your period?" Kimi asked trying to avoid the possible truth. "Is it because of Cam?"

"If it were because of Cam, she would be mopy, not cranky." said Evie. "She's just having a bad day."

"Hey!" Carly shouted. "If you bitches are done gossiping, can you please get your lazy asses out here?"

"Yep." said Kimi. "Definitely the full moon."

"Poor Cam, though." said Rose.

The white team on the other side was Jodie and her friends. Jodie was the captain of Suncoast High's girls swimming team and a total snob. But in Carly's slowly forming animalistic mind, she saw Jodie as weak prey she could easily take down.

 _Prey?_ She thought, her human senses coming back. _Take down? Where are these thoughts coming from?_

She didn't have time to think because as soon as a girl from Jodie's team served the ball, Thalie hit it to Evie, who hit it to Kimi who managed to score.

 _Guess all that practice using my ice hockey stick as Dr. Frost paid off._ She thought proudly.

Another serve but from the pink team, and the ball unfortunately landed on their side, resulting in a score for the whites.

"Come on Carly." Zoe prayed with the rest of the team, except for the adults watching from the sidelines. "Don't do anything stupid."

Zoe could not have prayed too later as another serve from Jodie's team was quickly deflected by a fiercely competitive Carly Morgan, scoring an instant point for the pinks. The crowds went wild and Zac with the others had to clap just to go along with it. They were happy for Carly, they just didn't want to have her hurt somebody or herself. She didn't know her own strength.

"Carly, loosen up!" Helen shouted.

"Sorry!" She called out.

But she couldn't help herself as the rest of the first half, Carly would often catch or hit the ball back. The others had to do everything in their physical power not to have Carly draw attention to herself.

By the time the halftime break came in, Carly seemed to be calming down and doing better. The group was all talking, having a few laughs about the fundraiser party that would take place that night at the beach, and they ran out of funnel cake, so Carly went to get some.

When Zac realized that Carly had not returned, he went to go look for her only to find her arguing with Jodie.

"What the hell's going on with you, Morgan?" Jodie shouted.

"What's going on with me?" Carly yelled. "You really wanna know? Well so would I! Because I can see, hear and smell things, that I shouldn't be able to see, hear and smell! I do things that should be impossible, I'm tearing up my own bed! And on top of that, I'm convinced that I'm going out of my fucking mind!"

"Carly!" Zac yelled, snapping her out of it. "Come on!" He took her hand and dragged her back. But when he looked at her face, he saw not human eyes but glowing gold eyes that belonged to a cat.

Dread filled Zac like water filling a cup. Their theories were right. Tonight, Carly would transform into the animal that was inside her.

"What are you looking at?" Carly snapped Zac out of his daze.

She ran back to the field and Zac approached Cam saying to him, "We were right."

The second half of the game commenced after what felt like seconds. All the other girls had to do was prevent Carly from making a scene. It was simple. Simple but impossible!

Carly made it her mission to make sure that the white team lost. She aided the others but then at one point, the ball came so high, Carly jumped gracefully, bouncing on some heads and eventually punching the ball back to the ground.

The whistle blowed three times, signifying that the game had ended. The girls in pink were now concerned for Carly but because of their friendship with her, they cheered and applauded her. Pretty much everyone who was watching it, cheered for Carly. She turned her head around and asked Evie, "Where's Cam?" He was nowhere to be found on the beach.

Evie looked to Kimi who nodded at her and said to Carly, "Come on."

Cam Mitchell immediately left the beach after Zac had told him about Carly's eyes and was back in his room, scouring the web and any book he could find on the subject in such short notice. He was on a researching binge on the subject of anything related to animal bites, lycanthropy, the full moon on wolves, and lycanthrope legends. He came across pages of Lycaon, werewolf sightings and wolfsbane. He started to freak out slowly as everything that had been happening to Carly started to make sense in a frightening way. He flipped through old books and printed out different pages.

He was jolted out of his nerves by a knock on the door. He opened it and he saw Carly and Evie.

"Good you're here." He said to the girls. "Get in."

"Cam what happened with you?" Carly asked. "You missed the second half, we won."

"Carly have a seat." said Evie.

"I've been here for the past hour, finding everything I can find on this." said Cam sounding really hyper in the way he spoke and moved.

"Exactly how much coffee have you had?" Carly questioned her boyfriend.

Cam simply shrugged. "I don't know. A lot? Doesn't matter. Ok, just listen."

"What's that thumping noise?" Carly asked. "Drums or something?"

"Carly." said Evie taking a seat on Carly on Cam's bed. "I'm here for you, but I need you to be open minded, ok?"

"You two sound like I'm gonna die." said Carly. "Guys, I'm fine."

"You are and you aren't." said Cam, raising some eyebrow raises from the girls. "Ok, let's get to basics-Carly, that thumping noise you're hearing? That's my heartbeat."

Carly only looked at him like he was an idiot. "Cam, how can I possibly hear your heartbeat without a stethoscope?"

"Stay focused please?" Evie asked her best friend.

"What then?" Carly asked. "What is the big deal?"

"Remember that joke we made the other day?" Cam asked, now sounding more slow. "Yeah, not so much of a joke anymore." Carly still wasn't getting it. "The wolf kid, the bite? I started doing all this research-Carly do you know why a wolf howls?"

"Should I?" Carly asked, still not seeing his point.

"It's a signal." said Cam. "When the wolf's alone, it howls to signal its location to the rest of the pack. So if you heard a wolf howling, that means others could have been near."

"Other wolves?" Carly asked, now piqued with interest.

"Carly." said Evie concerned for her best friend. "When we say wolves, we mean werewolves."

Carly stood up angrily. "Are you two seriously wasting my time with this? What kind of joke are you trying to screw with me?"

"We've seen you in the past two days Carly." said Evie. "Ok, what you did today wasn't just amazing. It was impossible."

Carly stared at him with a blank face. "So I made a good score. Big deal."

"No, you made an incredible shot!" said Cam. "The way you've been moving, your speed, your reflexes, people can't just suddenly do that overnight!"

"Cam's right." said Evie. "There's also the vision and the hearing as well. And don't think we haven't noticed that your bite is completely healed after two days when it should have taken a week at least!"

"Evangeline, do you even hear yourself now?!" said Carly. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, when you both are ready to act your age!"

"Tomorrow?!" Evie shouted. "No! The full moon's tonight? Don't you get it? Don't you see why you've been so cranky all day?"

"What are you trying to do?" Carly shouted back. "I look great, I'm a freaking gymnast, I won the goddamn fundraiser and everything in my life is somehow awesome why are you both trying to ruin it?"

"Ruin it? We're trying to help!" Cam yelled. "You're cursed, Carly. And it's not just the moon that will cause you to physically change, it also happens to be when your bloodlust will be at it's peak."

"If you two are so worried about me being a werewolf, where's Diablo?" Carly sneered.

The other two looked at each other. Diablo was helping set up the chains with Zac at the shed where Carly would transform, but they couldn't tell her that, she was already angry enough as it is.

"He's not here." Cam finally said. "But I'm telling you this, **we're** telling you this because Evie's your best friend and I'm your boyfriend and I care about you. You need to hear us out." He grabbed a book and read a line from a bookmarked page. 'The change can be cause by anger or anything that raises your pulse.' He put the book down. "Alright? One of the things that raises your pulse is party life. You're not going tonight."

Evie pulled out her phone and began texting.

"What are you doing?" Carly asked.

"I'm telling our friends that you're sick and not going." Evie replied.

"Give it to me!" Carly lunged for Evie but Cam held her back as she struggled to get away from him. Using her strength, she broke free, looked at them, struggling with her inner rage and threw the leather chair with enough force to knock it to the ground.

Evie looked at her terrified, but Cam looked indifferent. He dealt with a merman for a best friend and got jealous over it, so he could deal with a raging werewolf for a girlfriend.

"I'm sorry." Carly said remorsefully. "I...I just...I gotta go." She walked to Cam's door, looked back and said, "I'm sorry."

"That went well." Cam said sarcastically when the door closed.

"We tried our best." said Evie. "She'll come around."

Cam picked up the chair Carly clawed at and said to Evie, "I'm not so sure about that."

Turning the chair around so Evie could see the back, were three long claw marks.

Later that night, Carly was dressed in a night blue dress with white polka dots on it. She gave herself a once over before looking in the mirror.

_Perfect._

Her hair was in wavy locks and her makeup was just right.

The beach that night, was filled with people dancing to loud music, drinks in hand and the air filled with fun.

Carly was getting a drink and moved toward the shore to enjoy the nice quiet night. She breathed in, letting the power of the moon rush into her, relishing in the liberating lull of the night luna.

But then suddenly, her nerves felt like they were on fire, and she dropped to the sandy floor, unable to stand anymore. Her head felt like it was going to burst at any second. It was lucky that Zac was there to watch Carly in case anything happened because he ran to Carly, and put a hoodie over her, but it did nothing to soothe her pain.

"Zac." She breathed out. "It hurts so bad."

"I know Carly." He said, helping her up. "We're gonna help you, just hang on."

Zac left the party and got Carly to sit in the back seat as she tried her best to fight the pain, but the more she fought, the hotter it got and the feeling of something trying to burst out of her skin increased by the second. Her insides were painfully twisting and turning, even as she got out and was led by Zac and David to the old Ocean Cafe shed. Ondina and Zoe were outside.

"Don't worry Carly." said David. "You can do this." He opened the passcode for the shed and Diablo with Cam, Zac, and Evie led her in, chained her arms and legs to the wall and hugged the girl whose pain threatened to swallow her whole.

"Now remember." said Diablo. "Only I can help her."

"Good luck Carly." said Zac, walking away with Evie who gave her best friend a thumbs up. Carly responded with the same gesture. Cam kissed her on the forehead before leaving the two were-shifters in the room.

"Carly." said Diablo, who was already wolfed out. "Listen to me. Don't fight the pain, it will kill you. Let the transformation take over."

"Diablo." She breathed out, tears running down her face. "It hurts!"

"You can do this Carly." said Diablo. And then, the real pain hit. Carly began to scream as her skin felt like lava, her fingers and toes felt like knives were being pressed out of them, her gums began to throb and worse of all, her ears felt like they were being pushed into her head at the same time, two parallel stubs grew on the top of her head.

Animalistic instincts replaced human ones, she felt the urge to hunt, to kill, to slaughter. Carly felt like a pure animal. She looked down and gasped in horror as she saw her arms, full of golden fur and her fingernails in elongated claws. She found a puddle and screamed as she saw her own face.

Her face resembled that of a cat, same nose, fur covering her face, canine teeth now fangs and on top of her head, were two cat ears replacing her human ones. Her eyes were now big and wide, the pupil shrunk to a slit and gold replacing green.

She wasn't simple sweet Carly Morgan anymore. She was the animal in her; a cougar.

She looked around and saw the boy who looked like a werewolf try to pin her down but with her enhanced strength, punched him back. She looked down to see the chains and she ripped them off. Sniffing the area, she found the windows, where the moonlight was in, ran on the wall, broke through the window into the open.

"She's out!" Zac's voice shouted.

Emerging from silver light, was Zoe Khatha as she tried to restrain the werecougar. "Carly! It's me! Zoe!"

The cougar snarled and punched Zoe back, sending her flying back, with blood coming out of her mouth.

"Zoe!" Thalie shouted for her stepsister. She created a water ball to scoop her up but Carly with inhuman grace, leaped up and kicked Thalie back.

Kimi created an icy fortress around Carly and Helen entered it, in hopes to knock Carly out. Both girls fought, each trying to make a blow. Then Helen created a fireball but unfortunately, Carly grabbed the hand that Helen was using to create her powers and broke it, causing the fireball to go out of control and make the ice fortress explode in a bright light.

"Helen!" David shouted, everyone but Thalie who was tending to her sister, ran towards Helen.

"She's lose." said the Fire Omega, cradling her bent wrist.

"That's just great." Zac said exasperated.

"Diablo's going after her." said Rose.

"I just hope that Carly's still in there somewhere." said Evie with hope.

Meanwhile Carly in her cougar form ran as far as she could wherever she pleased. She was a free animal and nothing could stop her. She wasn't on a legitimate hunt. She just wanted to run and run as much as she could. She even stopped at one point in a clearing to lift her head up and roar at the moon. She continued to run until a fresh scent caught her nose. Following the scent's trail, she ran until she came across a jacket that brought an image of a brunette, green eyed mermaid. Some human instinct emerged within Carly as she recognized this girl as part of her pack. What was her name? Eve? No, Evie.

"Where is she?" She growled.

"She's safe." A South American accent sounded. "From you."

Carly searched around for the source of the voice and out of nowhere, Diablo came tumbling on Carly, the two weres clawing at each other until Diablo pinned her to a tree.

"What did you do with her?" She demanded.

"Quiet." He said, focusing his hearing and his face turned into a scowl. "Too late. They're here, run."

Carly did a double take, gaping and then scrambling to her feet. It was a good thing she didn't grow an actual tail because it would have been more weight for her.

Another shape tackled her down, grabbed her by the hair, and stuck his claws into her arm, she let out a roar of pain which turned into a scream.

"I've got one!" The male shouted, sniffing at her. "Hold up, guys! She's got Louis' scent on her!"

Stepping out of the shadows, were two girls, one brunette, one blonde, both behind an albino boy about 18 looking at her curiously. He took a moment before saying to the others, "We better take her back to the pack."

Diablo appeared from both sides, as an actual black wolf, clobbering the other were-shifters one by one, until he changed back into human form and ripped of the werewolf's claws on her arm.

The leader of the little team, the albino were-shifter looked at the blood on the tree and where the direction of the other were-shifters ran off wondering, where did they come from?

Carly and Diablo ran off with a good distance until Carly stopped to catch her breath as she changed back, but still feeling the influence of the moon. Fur retracted along with her claws back in her body, her ears going back in and back out as human ears.

"Who were they?" She asked.

"Were-shifters from another pack." Diablo said leaning down. "When I was trying to find you, I caught their scent and knew there was going to be trouble. I'm just glad I found you first. Welcome to the life of our kind."

"Our kind?" Carly asked, already dreading the answer.

He nodded. "You can't run away from the truth. You're a were-shifter, just like me. Well the full version, but still."

Carly's blood went cold. Like it or not, she was a lycanthrope. A Child of the Moon. "Why me? I never asked for this."

"I may not like it either." said Diablo. "But it's not that bad. You can see better, hear more clearly, move faster than any human could ever hope. I'll help you learn how to control it. But we've gotta stick together."

Carly nodded and closed her eyes, instantly falling to sleep. Diablo pulled out his cell phone and called Zac.

"I've got her." He said into the phone.

 _Is she ok?_ Zac's voice sounded from the device.

"She's fine." said Diablo. "She's just tired."

Carly woke up the next morning, feeling slightly better. She looked around and saw Evie sound asleep in her chair.

"Evie?" She asked, her best friend waking up slightly.

"Carly?" Evie did a double take when she saw Carly. "Carly!" Both girls ran to each other and gave a hug of pure friendship.

"Evie, I am so sorry." Carly said. "I acted like such a bitch and I'm really really sorry."

"Carly." said Evie. "You're my best friend. I forgive you already. Welcome to my life of full moon dread." Both girls laughed while Carly got ready for the day.

Carly soon found herself in the front seat of Cam's jeep with Evie and Zac in the back. They were on their way to the Ocean Cafe to meet with the others who like Evie had already forgiven Carly for yesterday.

"You know guys-"

"If you say you're sorry." Zac said. "I'm gonna say, 'we know.'"

"Not that." Carly groaned. "Part of me liked that drive, that urge to kill. I liked what I was capable of doing, that rush of adrenaline and what I was thinking of doing."

"Well it's the full moon." said Evie. "It does stuff to people. Zac and I know, we've been there."

"Were you mindless savages then?" Carly asked, shutting them up. "Yeah, I didn't think so."

"Look on the bright side." said Cam optimistically. "At least the Mako Club has a legitimate excuse for your possible cranky moments; you're a freaking werecougar, which by the way is awesome!" Carly gave her boyfriend a heated look. "Ok, not so awesome. Hey, we'll get through this. If I have to, I'll chain you up on full moon nights and keep you company while keeping my own distance. I did something like that with Zac once, I can do it now."

Carly smiled at her boyfriend and they stared at each other lovingly. Evie reached out to Carly's head and Zac whispered, "What are you doing?"

"Trying something." She replied.

"You two know I can hear you." Carly reminded them.

"Yeah I know." said Evie. She started scratching behind Carly's ear and after a few moments, Carly curled up in the seat and started making a rumbling noise coming from her chest.

"Are you actually purring?" Zac asked incredulously.

"This feels so good." Carly said euphorically.

Cam could only smile while keeping his eyes on the road.

 _Most guys get a motorcycle or the shy nerdy girl._ Cam thought to himself. _Me, I get a fish for a best friend and a purring cat for a girlfriend. Just the regular good ol' luck of the Camster._

**RESTORATION**

Diablo walked down the streets of the Gold Coast when a guy called out, "Hey."

He turned around to see an albino boy in a hoodie standing in front of him.

"Hi." Diablo responded.

"What pack are you from?" The albino asked.

"I'm an Omega." said Diablo immediately, remembering to control his heart rate.

The albino looked disappointed. "Not a smart choice. And speaking of which, have you seen a 12 year old werewolf? He's our pack's scout and he's gone MIA. His name's Louis Garou."

Diablo shook his head. "Nope." He said. "I haven't seen any Louis uhh…."

"Oh the name's Dimitri." said the albino, flashing his golden eyes at the Latino merman who instantly recognized him as the leader of the group of were-shifters that attacked Carly last night.

"Anyway." said Dimitri. "We did find a werecat last night who had Louis' scent on her. You wouldn't happen to know where she is would you?"

Diablo, pretending to play dumb shrugged his shoulders and made an "I don't know." sound.

Dimitri threw a bag at Diablo who caught it, and recognized it as Carly's purse!

"Tell her when you see her that the Tauna Pack wants their scout back, dead or alive." He said. "She's got a week, or else it's bye bye kitty for her."

Dimitri went to turn around but stopped and asked. "By the way, hanging out with mermaids?"

"No." said Diablo.

Dimitri smiled. "Good boy." and walked off into the city life.

Diablo could only stand in horror with the purse in hand, and his blood thumping in his head. If Dimitri or any of his pack found out what he really was, he was a dead man.

Because although there was a three thousand year old peace treaty between the two species, mermaids and werewolves in the same place?

Not. Good.


	3. The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

School arrived in a snap and every teenager who went to Suncoast High trotted along the school grounds, already missing the freedom of no school. And especially the freedom of one pompous teacher, Barbara Trumble.

Unfortunately, one teenage student didn't feel like hanging with his friends as Diablo Nagual walked to his locker in a stunned daze, exchanged his books, and dropped to the ground, looking like someone ran over his puppy.

"Are you ok?" Raiden asked his best friend who was staring into space.

"Yeah." He responded robotically.

"Is Rose fine?" Raiden asked again.

"Uh huh." Diablo nodded apathetically.

Raiden smiled and held his hands out. "Yeah, alright, so everything's good."

Diablo's heart flooded with ice as reality came back to him slowly. "No."

"No?"

"Remember?" Diablo asked. "The pack that attacked Carly? They're after Carly."

"They're what?" Raiden asked.

"They think…." Diablo muttered in a dazed look.

"There's actually is fucking werewolf pack? Near my kingdom?" Raiden asked.

"..That Carly killed their scout."

Raiden did a double take before saying, "The pack is.."

"Yes, a were-shifter pack!" Diablo freaked. "Oh my God! Oh my God!"

Raiden shook his head and went over to him. They did not need to start panicking, not with people around them. They were still grasping the fact that Carly was a werecougar.

"Hey." The Italian merman said giving the Latino a slight slap to the head. "Diablo, breathe. Ok, they don't know what you are do they?"

"No." said Diablo. "They think I'm like them.

"Do they know that your other kind is there?" Raiden asked, not even noticing that they were late for class.

Diablo froze while standing up. "No. What if they do? If they find out what I really am, I'm a dead man." He turned around and started banging his head on the lockers. "Dead, dead, dead, dead!"

"Wolfboy." Raiden whispered so no one would hear him. "No sense on freaking out. Let's just get to class. School's all you gotta focus for now. Here we go." He dragged Diablo to first period Geometry.

About an hour later, at second period gym, the juniors were all stretching and warming up, getting ready for today's gym class. Because it was starting to rain outside, they were playing matt ball, a game that was similar to baseball but it had kicking the ball instead of hitting it with a bat.

"Let's go!" Boys on the field, girls on the wall!" The soccer coach and gym teacher, Giulia Marolda shouted. "Jackson! You're pitching today!"

Clint Jackson, a boy in Zac's class nodded, picked up the ball, and rolled it to the first girl who kicked it.

Meanwhile, Evie whispered to Carly, "Just keep your cool, and you'll be fine."

"Right." said Carly. "Keep my cool. Shouldn't be a problem."

"McLaren!" Marolda shouted, blowing her whistle. Clint rolled the ball, Evie kicked it and ran towards second base. Then, it was Carly's turn. She was praying to God that she wouldn't lose control.

"Morgan!" The coach shouted. "Let's go!" The ball was rolled and Carly tried to do her best to not try to play at all but she ended up not kicking the ball at all and was pulled back into line.

The coach started to laugh at her coming towards the line. "Hey Morgan." She said in a laughing tone. "My fatass cat could move faster than that. And she's dead! You think you can run faster than the..lifeless corpse of my lazy dead cat?"

Through the coaches insults, Carly found herself shaking with rage and was starting to burn up on the inside.

Zac noticed this through his now trained eyes. "Oh crap." He whispered.

"Oh this is not gonna be good." Cam groaned already dreading what was coming.

"Yes Coach." Carly said through gritted teeth, her head was facing the floor so they couldn't see her eyes that were now gold and catlike.

"I can't hear you!" Marolda shouted.

"Yes coach!" She answered loudly.

"So do it again!" Carly ran back to the home starting point while Marolda shouted, "This one's gonna do it again!"

Carly tried to do her best to calm down, and although she succeeded in making her eyes back to their normal shape and color, her fangs were starting to grow. She looked over and saw Cam shaking his head at her. She then just huffed and ran for the rolling ball and kicked it back, and she did not go to first base. Instead she went right up to the first person she saw and socked him in the nose, sending him landing on the ground, hard.

While the rest of the class ran to Clint, Zac, Cam and Evie ran to Carly who walked a few paces before grabbing her head and dropping to the ground, feeling the cougar starting to emerge.

"You alright?" Zac asked the blonde.

"I can't control it guys." Carly breathed. "I'm changing!"

"What?" Cam exclaimed. "Here? Now? Ok, come on." Cam led Carly with Evie and Zac out of the gym, unaware that a certain albino were-shifter named Dimitri was watching.

Evie led Carly into the locker room, while the boys stayed outside to guard the door.

"It's ok Carly." Evie told her best friend who was leaning against the wall in burning pain. "Just breathe."

"EVIE, GET AWAY FROM ME!" Carly yelled, her fur, ears, claws, fangs and eyes now visible.

Evie screamed a little, moving back. She ran all over the locker room, trying to escape the beast that was Carly as said predator tried to chase her. Evie managed to get to the door and yell, "Zac! Help!"

Unfortunately, that gave her away to Carly as she grabbed her with her clawed hands and threw her across the locker room. Carly made her way to finish her when a blue and gold sphere surrounded Carly and picked her up. She growled looking to see who was doing this and found Zac, with his hands raised, absorbing enough sunlight that was coming through the windows.

"You ok Evie?" Cam asked picking her up.

"I'm fine." said Evie.

"Carly." Cam said loudly to the animal girl trying to claw her way out. "It's me, Cam. Remember?" He only got a roar in response. "Remember? The lettuce I ate to impress you? Remember I'm a cheapskate?" Still nothing. "In second grade, Zac threw up in your lunch box, but he told you Ricky Marsh did it."

"You promised you wouldn't tell anyone about that!" Zac yelled.

"What?!" Evie exclaimed angrily in Zac's ear, causing him to lose focus. "She kicked him off the monkey bars for that! That was you?!"

The force field ball dropped with Carly groaning while getting up and pressing her hands against the wall while taking a few breaths.

"Carly?" Cam asked, slolwy approaching her.

"Cam." She breathed out, turning towards them already changed back into human. "What happened?"

Zac let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and Evie wiped her brow. "You tried to kill us." Zac replied bluntly.

Evie gave him a dirty look while he shrugged. One thing he learned while he was training to be a warrior with the time he spent around the Blade Boys and Erik, was that sometimes there was no point in sugarcoating the truth.

Carly looked down, ashamed of herself for acting like this. "It's like with my visions with Zoe." said Zac. "It's the anger, the pulse rising. That's the trigger."

"But that's high school." said Carly. "Teenage life is full of crappy moments if you hadn't noticed."

"Well the level of crap is gonna turn to 'fuck' if you end up killing someone in the hallway." said Cam. "We're gonna need to think of something to help you control this."

"But can't you guys teach me?" Carly asked hopefully.

"Carly." said Evie. "None of us are full time werewolves, even Diablo. So we have no idea what we're dealing with here. And we only have until the next full moon which is in 3 weeks."

"Great." said Carly sarcastically. "So I'm a lost cause."

Later that night, The Sirens Creed was out on a rooftop, waiting for something to happen. Since Helen aka Hellfire's mother was on the police force, she could easily gain access to the police radio.

After the Battle for Mako, the boys joined the original Siren's Creed and Kimi with the help of the rest of the boys, had suits made modified. To protect their secret identities, they had stopped using their nicknames and soon, everyone forgot, also with a little help of Rose's moon ring. They kept their nicknames in battle. Of course, it sometimes annoyed them when the public started shipping them with each other. The only ship they got right, was Dr. Network-Dr. Frost and Network or Xhiva and Kimi.

It had been a few months since Thalie, Kimi, Rose and Helen stopped Slade and the Kanhoji Cult from mutating the city with moon pool radiation. Since then, the Sirens Creed had done it's best to protect the city after they took an oath by Thalassa's dead father, Harry Santos, who died saving his wife and daughter from an attack from Veridia.

The public, all of Australia was a glass half full when it came to the idea of vigilantees with superpowers. Half were convinced that they were a menace and needed to be taken down. Fortunately, most of Australia saw these superheroes as a beacon of hope and some including the mayor of Queensland called off the Australian military to hunt them down.

"Some people just can't handle change." said Xandou once.

The Sirens Creed stood for justice, peace, and maintaining balance. Even their symbol, was a sign of what they meant to do in the battles against the Australian criminal underworld. Their logo-a large crescent moon behind an X figure of an olive branch and a bundle of arrows. The arrows, a sign of hostility and vigilance against evil. The olive branch, a sign of peace and justice for all people, good and bad. And the moon, to signify balance and hope. It was also meant to signify a centerpiece for all who are troubled so that those who feared the night and the crimes that happened then, would always have a light of hope to give them strength.

Raiden or Voltage's suit was black with silver lightweight armor. The arm and leg bands, all had one long convexity spike. On Voltage's armbands were his hidden blade gauntlets. He was wearing a purple sash on his waist with the Sirens Creed logo on his chest armor, was a kimono style of black lines. On his left hand, was a dial for controlling his armor, turn the dial to the left, his armor would be black, turn it right, it would be silver. The helmet he wore, was a black and purple one with the same visor technology the girls had and on his ear, was a comm link. In his arm pads, were small pads containing wire for grappling onto things. The helmet he wore was similar to Thalie or Ocean Girl's but it was not the same. It was like a motorcyle helmet but it was reduced to something of a ninja's mask, the face covered and the eyes protected by a thin visor. The helmet was black with purple accents.

Xhiva or Network was a wearing a long brown thin trenchcoat over a suit he had designed. It was closed in the middle with one button on his torso. On top, was his black suit with forest green on the chest, like a sewed on tanktop. On the upper right corner of Network's chest was the Siren's Creed Logo. On his collarbones, like a necklace, was a steel metal brace. He had the same metal on his shoulder, arm, hand, knee, foot, and leg pads. He was wearing a black carbon fiber utility belt with the logo on the centerpiece. There were numerous gadgets in it, such as a phone, tracker or a flashlight. He didn't wear a helmet at all, despite Thalie and Kimi's insists. He claimed he had a thick skull. Over his eyes was a forest green mask with lids that moved with Xhiva's own brown-red eyes. In one of his pouches was a pair of night vision sunglasses for the use of his powers. Being a Delta merman meant he had weakness as he did have strength in his powers. His source and Achilles Heel, was his sight. If Xhiva could not see, he could not focus any of his powers.

Xandou or Speed Demon's suit was black with yellow padding on his arms, legs, chest and his racer helmet was yellow with black accents with a mohawk that matched his own head. The suit had a thicker black suit because it was no secret that the speedster's powers were dependent on heat.

Diablo or Wolfboy's suit was a very elaborate one. It was also the most tricky because most of the clothes he wore were the right loose material for his transformations. So the entire team had to work together to find the right design for Wolfboy's suit. They finally settled on an orange polyester long sleeved t shirt under a brown leather vest-like armor with brown arm brackets, black gloves, double-layered shoulder guards, black gym pants, and black and brown leather boots. Like Network, he did not wear a helmet but a mask pulled over his head that looked like a wolf's, including the ears and snout, and a utility belt made of leather with the Siren's Creed Logo in the middle.

The girls, following the boys' suggestions decided to change their helmets and outfits a little. Rose or Windglider's dress was the same just with a silver v mark on her torso just where her sleeveless dress reached her waist and there was a v neck mark on her collarbones where the dress began. Her fans now bore the Sirens Creed logo and she wore the same moon ring glove, Plexiglass cover and all as did the rest of the girls. Her helmet was changed so instead of it being a full on helmet it it was less thicker but more durable, the antennas still in place, and the visor now covering her eyes, leaving her mouth exposed since it was discovered that she could give what Diablo dubbed a "super breath." She still had her pink glittery eyeshadow and lipstick on.

Kimi or Dr. Frost did not change much of her outfit but found her helmet to be uncomfortable. She changed it to a teal ice hockey helmet with a visor covering her eyes and the helmet covered her entire head except her mouth. But she had a mouthguard ready in her belt in case some gas reached her, be it poisonous or fragrant...if you knew what she meant.

Helen's outfit hadn't changed but her headgear did as well as her name. Her helmet was now made of thick red leather that was reinforced with the thinnest but strongest carbon fiber that they could find. On her head, was a carbon fiber fireproof mohawk that lit up with fire whenever she wanted it to. Voltage and Helen had a big argument on Helen's name and decided to change it to Hellfire.

Ocean Girl's outfit had not changed at all. She wanted to stay to the original way. Even keeping her katana weapon.

"Well, guys." said Thalie aka Ocean Girl, leaning up from looking down on the streets. "I'm calling it, nothing's happening."

"I was afraid this day would come." said Hellfire, who was next to Windglider, playing with a ball of air. "We've run out of butts to kick."

"What do you expect?" Network asked, twirling his green and black baton. "You guys have been cleaning the streets since day 1, put most of Hell's Angels behind bars and the Kanhoji's MIA."

"In other words." said Speed Demon. "Looks like we're gonna be out of a job soon."

"Too bad." said Voltage. "Kind of like this job, if only we were paid though."

Dr. Frost or Kimi, gave Voltage a scorned look before hearing a rustle in the street. "Wait." She called out to the others. "Maybe not."

Wolfboy transformed into a pigeon, swooped down and circled back up.

"Wha'd you find out?" Windglider asked.

"It's nothing." said Wolfboy, transformed back into a person. "Just an old man passing a jewelry store."

"Then why are we wasting our time here?" Voltage asked.

"Because it sounds to me that that guy needs a beat down." said Speed Demon.

"Hold on Speed Demon." said Ocean Girl. "We can't just go attacking people, we talked about this."

"Why?" The Chinese speedster asked. "Because he's an old man?"

"No." said Ocean Girl. "Because we don't know he's gonna do anything wrong. He could be on his way home?"

"At midnight?" Hellfire asked skeptically. "You realize that the Gold Coast is called the Crime Captial of Australia, not the City that Never Sleeps."

"It would be cool though." said Wolfboy.

"Besides we should see what happens." said Dr. Frost. "Just in case things go south and he needs a beat down."

Suddenly, the old man picked the lock of the jewelry store and went inside.

"That guy needs a beat down." said Ocean Girl, jumping off the roof with the rest of her teammates.

They approached the old man in the store, to see him taking some diamonds, the boys armed and ready, and the girls, minus Hellfire were hesitant.

"Alright sir." said Ocean Girl. "We're gonna give you one chance to walk away, and give us back the jewels."

"Wait." said Wolfboy. "We are?"

"Yes." Ocean Girl insisted. "We are."

The old man looked at them, and Dr. Frost and Windglider almost screamed at the sight of his eyes. They were pitch black, even the whites of the eyes. It was like looking into a demon. He blinked, pulled out a gun and started firing at the Sirens Creed. When they all jumped out of the way, the old man threw a small circle at Xhiva who was twirling his baton and it unleashed a blinding white light that clouded the green clad superhero's sight. He accidentally hit Windglider who then accidentally hit the others with her wind fans.

"What was that Network?!" Wolfboy scolded.

"I can't see!" Network yelled. "I can't see!"

"Wait where's the guy?" Windglider asked.

"Great!" Speed Demon yelled angrily. "We let him get away!"

"Not exactly." said Hellfire, now glowing with flames, as her suit was fireproof, walking towards a shape. She leaned over him and pressed fingers to his neck. "Eh. He's still breathing."

Voltage ran over, tied up the man with his wires and said to Speed Demon, who was caring for his blind brother, "Run to the GCPD, tell them we've got a criminal caught."

It was then, that the old man woke up and looked at the Sirens Creed, but he looked completely confused.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Don't play dumb." said Speed Demon who was back already using his superspeed. "You're the guy who was just robbing this store. And doing a very crappy job at that."

"The Sirens Creed." The old man breathed out.

"Ding ding!" said Dr. Frost cheerfully.

"No, it wasn't me. I swear!" The old man pleaded.

"Yeah and I'm a merman." said Network sarcastically, looking at the wall, thinking he was talking to the old man. The others looked at him sharply. "It was a joke."

"Uh Network?" Windglider asked, pulling Network over. "We're here."

"I was talking to the wall, wasn't I?" Network asked sarcastically.

"Duh." said Voltage.

"Why did you try to rob this store?" Ocean Girl asked calmly.

"I don't remember." said the old man. "Any of it. One minute, I'm walking from the florist's shop then I wake up here."

"How can you commit a crime and not remember it?" Hellfire asked rhetorically.

Just then, red and blue lights flashed as police sirens came by. "We have to go." said Voltage.

"But we can't just leave him!" Ocean Girl exclaimed. "We have to do something!"

"It's bad enough that half of the Gold Coast Police Force thinks that we're a menace." said Speed Demon. "If we stay here, this guy could be in serious shit along with us."

"Sir." said Windglider. "We're gonna help you." She turned to Ocean Girl. "Right."

"Of course." The Water Omega said nodding her head along with the rest of the entire team, including Speed Demon. "We'll be back."

"Right." said Hellfire. "Hang on, man."

"Great." said Speed Demon impatiently as always. "Now get us out of here."

"Not a problem." Windglider said. "Everyone get close." They all did and the Omega Mermaid of Air raised her hands, wind swirling around them like a misty blanket and covering them completely and just like, the vigilantees disappeared into the air.

Meanwhile, Carly returned from her after school detention as a punishment for punching Clint Jackson. She flopped onto her bed, already exhausted of the day. Why wouldn't she be? She went out of control in gym over a petty insult, hurt somebody, went out of control and worst of all, got detention for the first time in her life. All because of this stupid werecat thing.

There was a knock on her door as Carly's mother, Pamela came in.

"Hey." She said, earning a soft grunt from the werecougar. "I've got a phone call now so dinner's in the fridge. But I am taking Saturday off to see you sing."

"Mom, you can't." Carly muttered.

"Oh no." said Pamela. "I can and I will. Come on, one shift isn't gonna break us." She then grew concerned. "Honey, what's wrong with your eyes?" Carly sat up nervously, fearing her eyes had turned to gold and catlike. "You look like you haven't slept in days."

"Oh it's nothing." said Carly forcing herself to smile. "Just stress."

"Just stress?" Pamela asked. "Nothing else? I mean, it's not like you're on drugs or anything right?"

"Uh." Carly's eyes darted around the room. "No?"

Pamela patted her daughter's blond head. "Get some rest."

As soon as she left the room, before Carly could sleep, she dialed Diablo's number. Said merman/werewolf was in his room at the original merman house where The Blade Boys and Erik used to live before Erik lived in Zoe's house that was now sold and courtesy of one Agni Tiraken, a butler was there to act as the adult. He was a human named Albert Nicklespend. Xhiva and Xandou started living together, as a family with the rest of the boys. Of course, Zac and Zoe were always welcome as frequent visitors. As well as Rose, Kimi, Thalie and Helen.

Meanwhile, Wolfboy had just arrived from his night patrol and was about to change out of his clothes when he heard his phone ring.

"Hey." The South American teenager said into the phone. "What's up?"

' _Diablo, I don't think I can take much more of this._ ' Carly's despondent voice sounded in the device.

"Take much more of what?" He asked.

' _THIS-'_ Her message ended with a cat like growl from her. ' _Diablo, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-'_

"Carls, it's fine." He said, now with his wolf mask off. "I get it, the were-shifter thing. It can be a bit of a problem."

He heard Carly scoff on the phone. ' _Diablo, this is not a problem. This is the Pri Madonna of disasters!'_

"I know it's tough at first but look at Evie." said Diablo, now changing out of his suit. "If she got used to it, so can you."

' _Trust me._ ' said Carly. ' _I'd rather be a fish girl. I've been a were-shifter for a few days and already I've busted someone's nose, almost gone deaf at my brother's loud music, almost transformed in public twice, and I've gotten detention! Plus, there's also the hair that's been falling out of me.'_

Diablo had the phone on speaker so he could change out of his shirt and armor. When he heard that sentence, he asked confused, "You're going bald?"

' _No_.' said Carly. ' _This morning, I was washing myself when I see these amounts of hair falling from my body onto the floor._ _I comb my hair, not that much hair._

When Diablo was putting on his pajama pants on, he froze, then chuckled sheepishly, running his hand through the wild bird's nest that was his hair.

"Yeah." He said awkwardly. "Carly, that's not hair you're shedding, that's fur."

Carly dropped the phone, luckily landing on her bed and winced in disgust. "EWWW!" She screamed. She picked up the phone hearing Diablo say,

' _Yeah, we sometimes do that._ '

"Look." said Carly. "I have my plans for college. Get good grade, build up my relationship with Cam, go to Prom. I did not see turning into a furry monster in my future."

' _You're not a furry monster_.' said Diablo from the phone. ' _You're a werecougar._ '

"Please don't say that." Carly groaned.

' _Well a werecat?_ ' Diablo suggested.

"Still not helping." Carly growled, almost literally.

' _It's ok Carly._ ' said Diablo _Just try to control yourself_.'

"That's easier said than done." said Carly. "My senses and emotions are up by 5. And then there's work."

' _Everything will be ok._ ' There was a loud thud.

"Diablo?" Carly asked. "What was that?"

' _Just try to get some sleep_.' Diablo cut the phone off.

Carly turned off the lights and before going to sleep she kneeled down on the ground, placed her elbows on the bed and began to pray.

 _Dear Lord._ She prayed. _Do you believe in miracles? Of course you do, you're the Son of God. I'm a werecat but I don't wanna be a monster. There's a pack of werewolves out for blood and a beast within me. How long will it be before someone close to me is hurt? Like my mom? My little brother? Evie? Or worst, Cam? When I said I wanted to do something with my life after I graduated, this isn't what I had in mind. I'm turning to you God, as a means to say, Lord, I need a miracle. I'm desperate. I need to learn how to control this._

"Amen." She whispered.

The next day, proved to be not so miraculous for Carly as she tried to get time off of the Ocean Cafe in order to buy time until the next full moon to apply this new power in her lifestyle. David, who was on everything now, understood Carly perfectly. The problem was, since David was half owner, he needed Joe, his older brother's say in it too. And since Joe didn't know anything about the supernatural, Carly's misfortune increased in the quite threatening conversation the three were having in the cool room.

"What do you mean you need time off?" Joe asked the blonde, David right beside her.

"I mean." said Carly. "I need time off."

"You need to quit." said Joe.

"No she says she needs a break." said David.

"I'm not following." said Joe confused.

David and Carly shared a look before Carly said, "I need a break, from work."

"Is it a guy?" Joe asked.

"No." said Carly.

"Is it a girl?" Joe asked. "You know, one of our waitresses, Jennifer is gay."

"Yeah but that's not it." said Carly.

"You don't think Jenny's a good looking gal?"

"I think she's pretty." said Carly. "But I like boys and that's not it anyway!"

"What then?" Joe asked. "Is it drugs, are you doing meth? I had a friend who was addicted to meth. His teeth were all cracked and rotten, disgusting I'll tell you."

"Oh my God what happened?" David asked, horrified.

Joe shrugged. "He got veneers. Is that what this is about? Are you afraid of commitment?"

"No." said Carly, trying to find a half truth. "I'm having some issues dealing with aggression."

"Well good news." said Joe. "That's why being a waiter is good, it builds social skills. Problem solved."

"Joe you don't understand how much I need this break." Carly pleaded. "At least for a month."

"Listen Carly." said Joe. "Having a job, means keeping that job. If you don't think you can keep it then I'm gonna have to pull the plug on you."

"If I try to take a break, you'll fire me?" Carly asked.

"Carly." said Joe. "Do your job."

Carly and David walked out looking glum. Carly smiled at David before going over to where Evie and her boyfriend were sitting with Cam.

"No luck on getting a break?" Evie asked.

"Not even close to luck." said Carly despondently. "So Zac, what's the news on Clint?"

"Not good." The half Thai merman responded. "He's got a busted nose."

"Because of me?" Carly asked.

"Because he's also a known asshole." Cam muttered.

"Cam!" Evie scolded.

"As much as I want to support you Evie, Cam is right on the asshole part." Zac said.

"Boys." Evie rolled her eyes.

"Heard you got detention." said Cam. "I'm sorry about that."

"This is a nightmare!" Carly exclaimed. "It's like I've got another person in me. Except that person is an animal. You know, when I said I was a cat person, I never meant to be so literal."

"Well…" said Cam. "Back when Zac got his powers, he never had a problem with anger."

"That's because I had to worry about water touching my skin." said Zac.

"Well Carly, we've got a free period." said David. "I'm sure we can come up with something."

"We've got your back Carly." said Evie.

"Thanks guys." said Carly, giving Cam a kiss on the cheek. "I'd don't know what I'd do without you."

Meanwhile, Thalie was talking with Rose and Xhiva.

"I snuck into the GCPDHQ last night and I got a tape of the interrogation of the guy we caught." said Rose.

"And what did he say?" Thalie asked.

"The perp's name is Tommy Ross." said Xhiva. "According to his alibi, he's the most honest guy anyone's ever met, no arrest records, not even a speeding ticket."

"So unless he decided to go out and become a criminal." said Rose. "There could be something else going on."

"There is something else." said Xhiva. "Ross claimed that he had no memory and felt like being possessed before blacking out."

"Possessed you say?" Thalie asked. "Then it seems this is something else. We may have a unsuspected criminal"

"Let's keep our eyes open at this Mystery Maskman." said Rose before shaking her head. "Ok that came out wrong."

"Ok this why Diablo come up with the names." said Xhiva shaking his head.

The beginning of the school rolled by in a jiffy. The students rolled in, the teachers were getting to their classrooms, while holding their coffees in their hands. The chit chats echoed in the halls and the lockers banged, one right after the other.

Evie and Carly were walking down, on their way to class when Rita Santos' assistant, Anna Kosher approached the duo and said to them, "Carly Morgan? Miss Santos wants to see you."

"I'll see you in Chemistry." said Carly to Evie who nodded and went off.

Meanwhile, Cam was getting some books for Biology with Zac.

"You alright mate?" Zac asked his best friend.

"Yeah." said Cam. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because I know that look Cam." said Zac. "You're unsure."

"Yes I'm unsure." said Cam exasperated. "I've gotten used to having a best friend that's half a fish after what? A year and a half."

"So?" Zac asked, sorting some of his books. "Carly's not that bad. She just needs some time to adjust. You know the old saying, 'the more things change, the more they stay the same.'"

"Zac, I've never had a girlfriend that's half a cat before." said Cam. "I like Carly. She's cool and all but this is a little weird for me. Don't you feel weird?"

Zac shrugged. "Not really. I just think that we all need to get used to things changing. I mean, look at Evie, she was pissed at her tail for a while but she got over it."

"Yeah except she wasn't the girlfriend most guys have to worry about being able to go out of her mind once a month." Cam remarked.

SLAM! A locker closed right next to Cam's, making him jump. Next to him, was a Raiden dressed in his usual plaid shirt and jeans.

"Actually considering that she's a woman-twice a month."

Both Cam and Zac looked horrified at the merman's remark.

"You seriously had to bring that up?" Zac asked.

Raiden just shrugged while giving his usual smirk. "It's what I do best." He walked to class, winking at his cousin.

To the quiet circle of the merpeople, it was no secret that Raiden was Zac's cousin, even if the two lads tried to deny the thought of being related to each other. A few months prior, when the Trident Chamber was unlocked, it was revealed in that place, that Persephone Consorzio and Nerissa Khatha were sisters, making Erik and Zoe cousins as well as Zac's adoption. Being on different sides at the time, the four were put into a very awkward position for a while but it wasn't until they reunited with Jacob Khatha that they realized how much they needed each other.

"I wonder what it's gonna be like, having a werecat for a girlfriend." said Cam on his way to class.

Whilst that happened, Carly walked to Principal Santos' office.

"Miss Santos?" Anna asked. "Carly's here to see you."

"Thanks Anna." said Rita, motioning for Carly to sit down.

"Carly you are aware why you got detention, yes?" Rita asked the blonde werecougar who slumped in her chair.

"Yes." said Carly. "But I swear I never meant to hurt him!"

"Carly you know with your newfound abilities you need to be careful of how you execute them." said Rita. "So you shouldn't be using your abilities."

"I couldn't help it!" Carly exclaimed. "Marolda said some really stupid insult that hit home, I get mad and then boom. I change."

"Coach Marolda was reprimanded for what happened." said Rita. "But an insult does not give you the right to go ramming into the first person you see because you can't control your anger issues."

"What are you saying?" Carly asked. "That I'm not supposed to feel anything?"

"No." said Rita. "Shutting down your emotions only makes it worse. What you should do, is be careful from now on. If you feel upset or angry, you must find some way to remain calm."

"Why do I have anger issues?" Carly asked. "I've always had my cool and never bitched out for no reason."

"I think that as your senses have been heightened, so have your emotions." said Rita, walking up and standing in front of Carly. "Including the anger you may not have realized you have had."

"Well that doesn't sound fun at all." said Carly sarcastically.

"Having powers is not just about fun." said Rita sternly. "There's responsibility involved."

"I understand." said Carly.

"You may go back to class." said Rita warmly. "Don't worry, it always starts hard before it gets easier."

By the time the hour before lunch arrived, Xhiva Tiraken was working on his chemistry classwork. He was working with a different partner so Kimi wasn't with him. Usually the Indian teenager was on top of things with his intense focus, but his mind kept replaying the police interrogation.

" _Why did you break into Jared's Jewels?" Mrs. Carter, Helen's mother asked._

" _I-I-I don't know." said the old man, identified as Garrison Myers. "I was heading home, I was placing an order for flowers. For my niece's wedding. Then out of nowhere, comes this feeling, like...something is taking over me. Started forcing me to walk toward the store. I tried to fight it but I couldn't control my own limbs. The next thing I know, I wake up with this massive headache, surrounded by the Sirens Creed."_

" _Then how do you explain with this nonsense that a gun was found next to you with your fingerprints on it?" Mrs. Carter asked._

" _I swear I don't know!" Garrison exclaimed. "I've never had a gun before, I've never bought one, and I've never used one! What about the Sirens Creed?"_

" _The GCPD doesn't have time to deal with criminals who take the law into their own hands." Mrs. Carter dismissed._

"Hey!" Harley, Xhiva's partner shouted, bringing the Indian merboy out of his stupor. "The chemicals!"

Xhiva looked down and saw that the beaker had erupted with chemicals. On pure trained instinct, he jumped out of the chair while the fizzing chemical reaction spilled over the table.

"Alright." said Ms. Naud, coming over. "What happened here? Jiva? Karen?"

"My name is Xhiva Ms. Naud." Xhiva shot back. "Zhi-va."

"I don't appreciate backtalk Mr. Tiraken." said Ms. Naud. BRRRRIIIIIIIIING! The bell rang, which meant by this time, it was lunch.

"Everybody but Karen and Jiba, get out of my class." Ms. Naud said irritably, grabbing her purse and looking at the two sulking teens. "That table better be clean when the next class begins."

"Great." said Karen annoyed, while grabbing some paper towels. "Xhiva you were supposed to mix the magnesium with the chlorine, not the oxygen."

"I'm sorry." said Xhiva, getting the books and supplies from the table, drenched in liquid which meant that Xhiva had to take any possibility that he would that he wouldn't get wet.

"You could help out." said Karen snobbily. "I know you're scared of liquids, but this is ridiculous."

"I've got my reasons." said Xhiva. "And they're not as deplorable as you think, Sanchez."

A throat cleared as Xhiva's girlfriend Kimi stood in the doorway, arms crossed. "Karen, you can go. Trust me, I can help Xhiva and his problem."

Karen rolled her eyes, grabbed her bag and walked out saying, "Whatever."

"That was easy." said Xhiva.

The Japanese mermaid shrugged. "I've had practice. Any way I can help? I brought towels with me in case this got out of hand, although the chemical might damage them and they could probably burst in flames."

Xhiva chuckled. "It's ok. Actually.." He walked over, took the towels out of his girlfriend's hands and brushed the snow white streaks in her hair that looked like freshly fallen snow on her pitch black hair. "I've got an idea since you're here."

"Which is?" Kimi asked her boyfriend.

He twirled her around to the soaked table. "I want you to freeze it."

Kimi nodded bringing her hands out, but Xhiva gently pushed them back. "Have you ever tried using your breath?"

Kimi looked flustered at the new idea. "I-I've never thought of it. Mostly because of the kisses we share." She blushed while Xhiva blushed.

"Let me help you." said Xhiva. "You helped me become sort of a normal guy. Now it's my turn to help you expand your knowledge. Now, focus on the chemical, and the liquid only. Don't use your hands, use your breath. Now remember, you are the only one that can decide how cold it is."

Xhiva, being the gentleman he is, brushed Kimi's hair out of the way and kissed her on the cheek, while she readied herself and blew a mildly cold breath all over the chemicals, her brown eyes glowing teal, a sign of her Omega status.

Within seconds, the spilled chemical turned into a paper thin sheet of ice.

The couple looked at each other and smiled lovingly.

Soon, they were cleaning the table by scrubbing off the ice.

"What happened with you?" Kimi asked the Chinese/Indian technopath as he scrubbed off an ice shard.

"I lost focus." He said. "My mind kept flashing back to the other suspect besides Myers."

"It's fluxing me too." said Kimi. "Why would they say they didn't know what they were doing if they committed almost the same crime?"

"Maybe they were on drugs or something?" Xhiva asked shrugging. "Ethanol is proven to shorten memory and kill brain cells."

"Not a chance." said Kimi. "According to Helen, they did a test on both Miss Orlofsky and Mr. Myers. Both came clean of any alcoholic or toxic influence, even though they complained of having a migraine. And these are people with squeaky clean records."

"By the way, where's Xandou?" Xhiva asked.

"Another robbery." said Kimi and Xhiva got it instantly.

"Has every crook in this city gone batshit crazy?" Xhiva asked, tying up his garbage bag. "This is the third time this week."

"This is getting pretty strange." said Kimi. "But what's even stranger, was the way they spoke, it's almost as if they were trying to say they were being controlled or something."

"Maybe…" Xhiva said, dumping his full garbage bag.

"Maybe we should go out." said Kimi. "Just to clear our heads, we're both pretty stressed."

"God I love you." He kissed his girlfriend's cheek, which got her to giggle a little.

Later at the cafe, Carly served a black and white milkshake, a popular brand of drink from Thalie's original home in Florida until she was adopted at the age of 6 by the Blakeleys.

"How you doing Carly?" The red-haired half blood mermaid asked.

"Ok." said Carly. "So far, today has been disaster free."

"As long as you're ok, I'm ok." said the Water Omega Half Blood.

Carly went back to deliver a sandwich to another customer and when she was on her way back to to the counter, she stopped by Thalie who was then doing her homework.

"Thalie?" The werecougar asked. "How do you do it?"

"Oh." said the half mermaid looking at the homework. "Just analyze the book, try to understand it-"

"No not that." said Carly. "How do you deal with having...powers? How do you keep it in?"

"Well." said Thalie, scratching the back of her neck. "It was hard for me, by the time I started breathing underwater, and sprouting fins and scales. But I was lucky, because I had my best friends, my sisters to help me and they did. After they got their powers, I helped them. You have no idea, how many times I wanted to tell Zac, Rob and Lauren. I mean, they're still my family, no matter what."

"How do you take control?" Carly asked.

"The first step is by admitting something that no one wants to." said Thalie. "That we are outsiders, that there is something wrong with us. But the most important lesson of anyone with powers is don't hold it in, or better, don't fear your power, accept it. That's the least you can do to assure your own satisfaction."

"Thanks." Carly said when Thalie stood up to give her a hug. "You've always been there for everyone Thalie."

"You know Carly." said Thalie. "Maybe there's a reason you're a werecougar."

"What is that reason?" Carly asked.

"That's the million dollar question." said Thalie. "But I think that my godmother, Nerissa, had a saying, 'Sometimes the powers you have show the person you are.'"

"Do my powers show I'm an animalistic maniac?" Carly asked.

Thalie simply shrugged and patted Carly's shoulder while smiling. "You're gonna get through this. I know you are."

The late night jumped at the city faster than a cheetah. In the sky, keeping aerial surveillance was Ocean Girl on her waterboard, Hellfire, with her rocket boots, and Windglider with her ability to fly.

On foot and on terrain, was Dr. Frost with her ice skating, literally. And Wolfboy as a cheetah running not far from the others. Running in his super speed, was of course, Speed Demon all had communicators in their earpiece so they wouldn't not hear from each other.

Driving in the Creedmobile, a van that Speed Demon fixed up was Network and Voltage. Since Network was a Tiraken, he drove anyway, even if he was only 15. The van had vertical seating, a first aid kit, lines of communication and a control keyboard for the comm link line and a radio broadcasting the police scanner so they could relay the reports to Ocean Girl so she could prioritize the placement of her comrades. Next to the all the seats were handcuffs for criminals. Under the seats, were backup weapons, on Network's insistence.

The Sirens Creed was spread out all over the city because of the numerous crimes going around the entire town.

"Wolfboy." said Ocean Girl through her comm link. "We've got a robbery at the Dumpling Palace in Chinatown."

"I'm on it." He said, changing back into a human then changing into an eagle at said place.

"Speed Demon, take Wolfboy's place." Ocean Girl ordered.

"Can't." said the speedster. "A little busy."

"Hellfire." said Ocean Girl. "Take the middle route, we'll keep all ears out. Dr. Frost, stay on the path you're on."

"On it." said Hellfire, kicking up the heat, pun intended to her rocket boots and flying over the path Wolfboy was on.

Meanwhile two other guys were trying to drive away from Network driving a speeding Creedmobile.

"Pedal to the metal." A thief said to his getaway driver in the car in front of the vigilante's car. It had no license plate so police couldn't find them.

" _We've got a 10-31 in progress, Shiny Diamond 18th and Olive."_ A police officer reported on the police scanner.

"That's only a few blocks from here." Network said.

"Has every crook in the Gold Coast gone nuts?" Voltage asked, turning on his comm. "This is the 5th attempted robbery tonight."

"Well compared to most patrols we have, this is a busy night." said Network.

"OG." said Voltage. "We've got another one."

" _What's your 20?"_ The blue clad leader asked through the comm.

"18th and Olive." Voltage reported.

" _Got it."_ She replied.

Just as she was about to give orders, a yellow blur came into the car and said cheerfully, "Hello."

"Hold on." said Voltage on the comm. "Speed Demon, what are you doing here?"

"Put Frost on the comm." said Speed Demon as he was handcuffing a guy.

Voltage pressed a passcode into the keyboard and Speed Demon said out loud, "Hey, Frost!"

" _Yeah?"_ Her distorted voice came out. All the helmets had voice modulators that made their voices seem deeper. On the radio in the Creedmobile, they were distorted.

"Guess who I've got next to me." said Speed Demon proudly, pointing to the handcuffed man. "Indecent exposure, Powell Avenue. You owe me 10 bucks."

" _Damn it!"_ Dr. Frost's voice sounded.

"You guys bet on catching a criminal?" Network asked, astounded.

"What can I say bro?" Speed Demon asked. "I love to win."

" _That man is muy loco."_ Windglider's voice sounded.

Network looked at the keyboard and saw that Voltage had pressed in the wrong set of buttons.

"You put in all of the comms Voltage." said Network.

The Lightning Omega looked at it and laughed sheepishly. "My bad." He raised his arms in surrender. "Still trying to figure out the buttons."

" _Voltage, Network and Speed Demon."_ Ocean Girl's authoritative voice sounded. " _You stay right there and continue hunting down the bozos you're chasing now. Me, Hellfire, and Windglider will worry about the idiots at the Shiny Diamond."_

"Got it, over." Network pushed some buttons and the comm line ended. "We're gonna run out of room though."

"I'll take care of that." said Speed Demon, turning on his comm link to Dr. Frost, getting the Frost switch on the watch that all of them shared to control who they talked to.

"Hey Frost. You done?" He asked.

" _Yes."_ She replied.

"Get ready for pickup." He said before speeding out of the car.

"What do you think he meant by...that?" Network asked looking over and seeing that the speedster had taken Voltage as well.

Through a series of yellow blurs, the getaway driver was handcuffed to the backseat as well as the thief that Dr. Frost was fighting.

"Oh." Network said smiling. "That's what he meant."

The car in front of the Creed Mobile lost control but stopped. Even though the thief next to the driver wasn't paying attention.

"I think we lost him." said the theif happily.

"Uh no you didn't." said Dr. Frost's voice, then said superhero showed herself through the light of the streetlights.

"And by the way." said Voltage who was in the front seat. "You're under arrest."

The thief looked at his now cuffed hands in shock, and looked out the window to see that the tires had been frozen while Voltage and Dr. Frost laughed their heads off.

Meanwhile, at the Shiny Diamond, the last glass shelf containing priceless gems had been broken and raided.

"We need to go." a thief said to his accomplice. "Now come on."

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Hellfire jumped in front of the thieves, the flaming tonfa in her hands and her helmet spike like it's image, dancing in flames.

Windglider rose from the floor, and grabbed their guns, surprising the thieves. "Looking for something?"

"On the ground." Ocean Girl ordered, a ball of water from her arm brace water bottles, swirling in her hand. "On the ground now!"

A yellow blur came in and Speed Demon saw Ocean Girl handcuffing the perps.

"The roads clear." Speed Demon reported.

"Good." said Hellfire, smiling at her boyfriend lovingly

Speed Demon took one look at the tied up criminals and said while sauntering around them. "So… I'm just curious but uh, have you guys not heard of us or what?"

All of the vigilantees laughed at this while he and Windglider high fived each other then him and Ocean Girl.

"Nice work everyone." She said.

"Wait where's Wolfboy?" Windglider asked.

While that happened, Wolfboy was in the middle of a tangle with a criminal who was using two guns. Finally after a long time, he had caught the man and when he looked at him, he almost screamed like a girl. The man's eyes didn't look human. They were completely pitch black, even the whites, as if there was no soul behind them. Wolfboy fumbled for his phone when he heard the man groan and when he looked into his eyes, they were completely normal.

"What happened?" The old Chinese man asked the Alpha merman shapeshifter. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You don't remember what happened?" Wolfboy asked kindly.

"No." said the Chinese man. "I don't know how I got here. There was.. A girl and then nothing."

Suddenly, police sirens sounded the area and Wolfboy took this cue to leave back to the Secret Sanctum.

"Hey guys." Speed Demon said on the team's way back to the lair. "I'll catch up with you later."

"Where you off to?" Windglider asked flying low to him.

"I'm late for a private tutoring session with Carly." He said speeding off in his yellow blur.

Carly was on her way from her shift at the cafe, dragging her purse in her hand and feeling grateful for her night vision. Another day was out of the way for her, and a new one sat on the horizon, preparing to greet her when the morning sun came.

She took out a water bottle and starting drinking from it, when she heard a rustle. She looked around, now with her enhanced reflexes, was immediately on edge. She looked around watching for any sign of a disturbance and started to walk home when a dark shape started moving towards the werecougar. She started running for her life, when she got an idea. Running towards a parking lot for a bar, she started running on the hoods of the cars, sending all of the car alarms off to throw off the sound of her heartbeat and breathing. She quickly hid under a car but her cover was blown by the sound of her phone ringing. When she tried to turn it off, she felt herself being dragged out and thrown on the hood of a car. She looked up to see a Chinese teenager with a raven black mohawk for hair and jade green eyes, wearing a leather jacket over a yellow t shirt, jeans and sneakers.

"You're dead." Xandou announced.

Carly was furious and got up as Xandou started walking from her and she stomped after him.

"What the hell Xandou?" Carly asked, clearly pissed off.

"Hey." Xandou said, putting his hands up in surrender. "We all said we were gonna help you. **I** just didn't say when I would do so."

Carly glared at him as she moved to slightly punch him on the shoulder. "You're a total jerk you know that? You scared the crap out of me!"

"That's good." Xandou said indifferent to Carly's tone. "Scared is what keeps you alive. Besides, you were sloppy back there."

"Sloppy?" Carly spluttered. "I set the car alarms off, and I was fast right?"

"Not fast enough." said Xandou quickly.

"Nothing is fast enough for you." Carly muttered under her breath. "But it was smart right?"

"Until your phone rang." said Xandou.

"Ok would you just stop?!" Carly exclaimed, making Xandou spin around and stop. "Look, what happened on the full moon, Zoe getting hurt, me being out of it, I should have been in control. I need to learn how to get a grip on this whole thing!"

"First of all Carly." said Xandou. "That was your first full moon. Take it from my father, if you only expect perfection out of every little thing, you will never learn. Second, I am what I am because of birth. You were turned. Teaching someone who is turned, takes time. Look, all of us, even Diablo don't have much experience with were-shifters so we all have to be patient with each other."

"That's you talking." Carly retorted.

"You getting angry?" Xandou asked. "That's the first lesson. You wanna learn how to summon your strength, your powers, you do it by tapping into your passionate emotions. Anger doesn't have to be a necessary drive."

"So what are you saying?" Carly countered. "Get angry?"

"No." said Xandou. "I don't know much about this, I'm just a merman. But can you at least think of some way to control your emotions? At least until the full moon?"

Carly nodded. "I can try.'

Meanwhile, in their secret lair under the Santos Household, the Sirens Creed was relaxing and stripping off their uniforms.

Helen was taking off her glittery red lipstick, black eyeliner, and gold eyeshadow when a yellow blur came in behind her.

"Xandou!" Helen exclaimed, while laughing.

"Nice to see you too." He said to his girlfriend.

"How'd it go with Carly?" The dark skinned British girl asked, throwing away her moist towelette.

"She sucks." said Xandou. "But she may survive."

"Why, you didn't shoot her did you?" Helen joked before stopping and turning at him. "You did shoot her?"

"Of course not!" Xandou said. "Guns aren't my thing and I just gave her the good ol' chase."

Helen just chuckled, smiling at her boyfriend. "But now, we're good for the night. **Real** good."

"I like the sound of that." Xandou said lowly and seductively, leaning in to kiss her and she kissed back.

Meanwhile, Xhiva in his own lab was skimming through the GCPD's footage and getting hold of the interrogations while keeping sure that he covered his tracks. What he failed to realize, since he was glued to the computer was a small rat crawling up him and landing on the desk. It took the rat to give a loud squeal as Xhiva fell back, screaming like a frightened little girl.

The rat's tail shrunk, the fur disappeared, and the face shortened as a human began to take it's place. It was a boy with wild black hair, classic Latino skin, a devilish grin, and bright orange amber eyes. He was wearing an orange shirt, brown cargo pants and sandals, along with his orange cap on his head.

"Diablo!" Xhiva yelled. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry, not sorry." Diablo said smirking.

"I thought with being Wolfboy you would retire from the pranking business." said Xhiva, getting back to his seat after summoning it with his powers.

"A trickster never retires." said Diablo. "Even in old age. Besides, it's my job. So whatcha working on?"

"I'm scowering through the police footage and all the perps we caught tonight except for a man named Shen did not plead innocence."

"Who's Shen?" Diablo asked curiously.

Xhiva then raised his hands and technopathically made the computer show the interrogation footage of the old Chinese man.

"Wait." The Argentinian merman said leaning in and looking closer. "I know this guy."

"You do?" Xhiva asked.

"Yeah." said Diablo. "He was the guy I caught. But..would it be weird if I said that when I was fighting him, he had pitch black eyes, covering even the whites and when I turned around they were back to normal?"

He then noticed Xhiva furrowing his brow like he was in deep thought.

"This just got interesting." said Xhiva.

Meanwhile that night, a golden wolf ran in the city, carefully shielding himself and making sure that he shifted back and forth, to make sure that no one caught a giant wolf in the streets. He sniffed countless areas, and he kept his keen ears for any sign of the person he was looking for. He had already sent three howls and he still got no response from the were-shifter he was looking for. Shifting back into his human form, clothes still on while the fur became human skin, the claws retracting to human fingernails while the snout pushed back and the man yelled, "Louis! Louis Garou! LOUIS!" He waited a few minutes before shifting back into his wolf form and running off to the group assigned by the pack's Luna to find the scout.

Elsewhere, near the Royal Pines Golf Course, was the rest of the group waiting for the 19 year old Max Lowell to come back. There was 27 year old, were-panther Jason Lowell, 21 year old werewolf Alex Lycus, 16 year old were-coyote Clawdeen Tate, 20 year old she-wolf Ylva Zeigler, and 17 year old were-dingo Dimitri Valko.

"I still think it's ridiculous that Louis went on his own." said Clawdeen. "This is why I always say that someone should go with a scout. Lone shifters don't make it on their own."

"The Alpha decided it so." said Jason. "Besides, not the best decision now with him being on the verge of death and we **never** get sick."

"I still think it was stupid of him to just volunteer like that." Ylva said firmly. "Usually the Alpha chooses. Or in this case nowadays the Luna."

"What can you expect?" Alex asked. "Cubs are gonna do what cubs are gonna do, right Clawdeen?"

The brunette were-coyote growled at the raven haired, blue eyed werewolf, while showing her yellow eyes.

Meanwhile a golden wolf changed back into Max as he brushed his blonde hair while panting.

"Did you find the cub's scent?" Dimitri asked.

Max shook his head grimly. "Couldn't find it. At the police station, all I could find there was a report of a dog like boy roaming around for a day. And then nothing."

"I hope that cat bitch hasn't done anything to the cub." Clawdeen growled, along with everyone else who tried to keep their animals in.

It was no secret that were-shifters were very territorial creatures. If you messed with even a single member of their pack...you had earned a one way ticket to your grave.

The next morning, it was another school day, the sun bright up and everybody was getting ready to start the day. The cafe was bursting with it's morning pride while Carly sat, poking at her juice with her straw with Cam coming over with his breakfast.

"Why so glum?" Cam asked sitting down. "Aren't you looking forward to our date?"

"What?" Carly's head perked up. "Oh yeah." She smiled.

"You're still in a funk?" Cam asked rhetorically.

"Take a guess." said Carly.

"You don't have to be embarrassed." said Cam. "No one's gonna judge you. I mean, you're still Carly...just more special. Look, I'm not afraid of you."

"You're not?" Carly asked confused. "I've given you a lot of reasons to be."

"That was before you knew what it was like to be me." said Cam. "An outsider."

Carly raised an eyebrow. "You Cam? But you're…"

"Human?" Cam asked. "Normal? I get it. I'm the only human in this Mako Gang so you don't think I don't feel a little left out? That I'm not special?"

"Cam." Carly took her boyfriend's hand into hers. "You **are** special. Why? Cause you're you. And that's enough for me. Look, I don't know how this whole catgirl crap goes but you're gonna have to accept what you are cause more changes are gonna come your way and you're gonna need friends who can relate."

"How can you relate to what I'm going through?" Carly asked.

"You don't think I didn't do things I will never forgive myself for?" Cam asked. "All because I was jealous? I don't know why this happened to you or why that kid bit you, but you need us as much as we need you. You can do things most girls can't do and you should enjoy it. And let's face it, unless there's some magic cure, you're never gonna be a normal girl again and we're gonna be all you have even on the full moon."

Carly sighed, drumming her fingers on her arm and said, "I would kiss you right now if the roles were reversed."

Cam smiled mischievously. "You sure about that?" He got up and kissed his girlfriend on the cheek.

School had started by the time all of the Mako Gang and Sirens Creed had arrived. But unfortunately, not all was to pass smoothly as Xhiva's phone that was connected to the GCPD's police scanner started buzzing. A person with pitch black eyes was leading a group of thieves in a bank.

"Guys." He said calling all of the team on what they called, "Creed Call" "We have a problem. I've sent you the report."

" _Xhiva this is bad."_ Kimi's voice was heard through the phone. " _A mass robbery at once?"_

" _How are we gonna handle this and school?"_ Rose asked.

" _We're not."_ Thalie's voice sounded.

" _Excuse me?"_ Helen's snippy voice sounded.

" _Half of us need to stay behind."_ Thalie replied.

" _It's a good thing school just started because we can't draw attention."_ said Raiden.

" _Alright. Who's going with?"_ Xandou asked.

" _Xhiva, Xandou, Kimi, come with me."_ Thalie ordered. " _The rest of you, stay behind."_

" _Why us OG?"_ Diablo asked.

" _Because Diablo, you guys need to help Carly with her...anger issues."_ Thalie said.

"Roger that." said Xhiva. "Meet you guys at the Peppers Broadbeach. By my calculations we should all be there by 10-no, no 15 minutes."

" _Yeah that's not weird or anything Xhiva."_ said Helen sarcastically.

The Indian merman simply rolled his eyes. "Tiraken 1 out." He closed his phone, activated his invisibility and ran for it.

Meanwhile, Carly was walking to class when a certain blonde Latina joined her.

"Hi Carly!" said the bubbly girl.

"Hey." Carly chuckled. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." said Rose. "How have you been doing? With the whole...werecat thing?"

Carly groaned. "It's still hard to control it. Or my senses. I mean how do you deal with all of these sounds?"

"It takes practice." said Rose. "Speaking of which, I hear that Xandou's trying to teach you."

"Yeah his impatience doesn't exactly make him a good teacher." said Carly.

"Ok." said Rose, now seeing an opportunity to complete her assignment. "When is Xandou teaching you again?"

"It's not important." said Carly.

"When?" Rose insisted.

Carly stopped and said to her, "He's meeting me after work."

Rose took a moment to think about the day and said, "Well then that gives me enough time."

"To teach you myself." said Rose. "With the others. And trust me, I'm gonna be an even better Yoda than Xandou."

"Yeah, you'll be my Yoda." said Carly.

"Your Yoda I will be." Rose said in an impersonation of the Star Wars character. "See? I did it backwards."

"Yeah." said Carly and then cringed at how loud the bell rang. "Look you better…" She turned around to see that Rose had disappeared. "Get to class. I swear you're like a ghost."

After a few rounds of different classes, it was around lunchtime, when Carly met Rose on the baseball field where they also met Helen, Raiden and Diablo.

All the color drained from the Australian werecougar's face as she thought, _Why do I feel like I'm regretting this already?_

"Hey Carly." said the black mermaid. "You must be wondering why we're all here. Well that's so we can help you control your powers."

"Then where's the rest of your little club?" Carly asked, settling down her bag.

"Oh they're off." said Raiden. "They had to take care of something with my mother. Usual Clan stuff. Come on." He led the others with Carly to the dugout to talk.

"Alright." said Diablo. "Carly, we're gonna train you, Ares Tribe style."

"How?" Carly asked.

"Four simple words _amico_." Raiden said finishing with his Italian tongue and creating a small storm in his palm. "Nullum doloram, nullum quaestram. Translates to no pain, no gain."

"Ok **now** I'm starting to regret agreeing to this." Carly said in worry.

"Hey it's ok." said Diablo kindly. "What we're gonna do is try to bring out your heart rate. We really hate to do this, but pain is the quickest motivator."

Carly groaned and said, "I'll do whatever it takes."

"Now Carly." said Helen. "We don't have a heart monitor but it is proven that a quick heart rate can increase temperature and since I'm the girl with fire in me, literally, I'll be able to detect your heat signature. If it goes up, I'll know you're shifting, down, you're good as a chum."

"I'm just here for moral support." said Rose. "Plus I have ice and bandages standing by."

"Alright less talking, more training." said Helen.

"Looks like Xandou's starting to rub off you Carter." Raiden said sassily. "Just wait till you start screwing each other."

"Man, shut up!" Helen shouted, heat rising to her cheeks and making them glow a slight amber as it was no secret to the Siren's Creed that ever since the Helen, Kimi and Rose were exposed to the light of the cosmic moon, Helen's body had become immune to fire and could literally bathe in it without being burned.

Diablo got handcuffs from the Creedmobile and fastened them around Carly's wrists when they were behind her back. To Rose's amusement, Carly with her newfound flexibility had her arms in front of her.

"Nice try." She said smiling.

"Carly could you please get your arms behind your back?" Helen asked. "You're kind of missing the point of the exercise."

"Which involves handcuffing me behind my back?" Carly asked. "Where did you get those anyway?"

"I know a guy." said Helen proudly.

"Now Carly." said Diablo. "No matter what happens, no matter what we do, try not to go all savage kitty."

"This isn't really how I wanted to spend my free period." said Carly.

"Remember young padawan." said Rose. "Don't get angry. Oh and please don't tell Zac, Evie or Cam about this."

"I'm starting to think this was a bad idea." said Carly.

Raiden twirled his baseball bat and Diablo tossed up a baseball, Raiden hitting it with the bat and the ball went straight flying into Carly's face.

"OW!" Carly shouted.

Raiden hit another ball and it went flying straight into Carly's leg. She groaned and fought to stay on her feet. Another one came flying by and it went straight for Carly's arm.

"Ok that one actually kind of hurt." Carly let out.

"Quiet." said Helen. "Your temperature's good now but you need to focus on staying calm."

"Staying calm." Carly said, narrowly missing another ball as it came flying by. "Staying calm. Staying totally, totally calm. There's no balls flying at my fa-AAH!" A ball had hit Carly's nose that time. Balls kept flying and hitting Carly with no breaks in between every hit.

"Ah! Son of a bitch!" Carly shouted when a ball hit her womanhood.

Helen, Diablo, and Rose winced at the hit while Raiden said, twirling his baseball bat. "You know, I think my aim is improving."

"Yeah." Carly spat out. "I wonder why."

"Ah buh buh." said Rose pointing and shaking her finger like one would shake their head. "Don't get angry."

"Not getting angry." Carly mumbled as another ball hit her. More balls kept flying at her, hitting her on the chest, knees or gut.

After a few more times, Rose was starting to get worried. "Maybe we should stop."

"She wants to train, this is the way we do it." said Diablo. "I know it's painful, but she'll pull through."

"Guys wait." Carly pleaded. "Please stop."

Raiden hit another one and it hit Carly's stomach which seemed to push her over the edge.

"Oh no." said Helen. "Her heat's rising which means her heart rate's going up."

Carly was groaning loudly and with her brute strength, snapped off the handcuffs and fell to the ground, writhing in pain as the animal tried to take over her. Her own heart rate was rising as she felt her own human instincts slip away.

Diablo felt this presence and his eyes started to burn their bright amber as he caught sight of Carly's cat eyes. They all took care not to touch her even pulling back Helen from trying to help her. They were letting Carly pull through it on her own.

She tried to focus She tried to make herself calm through taking deep breaths and clear her mind of the anger she was feeling. Sure enough, her pulse started to drop and felt the tension of the animal flow away.

"It's ok." Rose said kindly. "You're ok."

"I could have hurt you guys." Carly breathed out, sitting on the grassy field.

"But you didn't." said Diablo. "That's a good thing. Means you're learning."

"You started to change." said Helen. "How did you get back so quickly?"

"I don't know." said Carly. "My head is pounding."

"Carly." said Diablo. "Just breathe."

Rose placed her hands on Carly and with a pink glow of her hands, pumped air into Carly.

"Who knew we had a bicycle pump here?" She joked, prompting the others to laugh. "But when I started to change, it was more than just feeling my fangs come out. The angrier I got, the stronger I felt."

"So it is anger then." said Raiden. "Xandou's right."

"I can't be around my friends." Carly mumbled.

"Just because they make you happy?" Raiden asked skeptically.

The werecougar shook her head. "No because they make me weak."

Meanwhile, Kimi who was Dr. Frost was chasing an Indian man in his 30's **(A.N, no, it's not Agni Tiraken.)** And she managed to freeze his legs with a giant ice cube.

"Who are you?" She asked, with the voice modulator distorting her voice. "Why are you controlling these people? What are you? Where are you?"

The man laughed a little and said, "All excellent questions but sadly coming from the wrong person."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dr. Frost asked, putting her hands on her hips.

The man shrugged. "Well you weren't supposed to be the one who chased after me while the others are busy avoiding the police. But such is life."

"Ok." said Dr. Frost creating a pair of ice handcuffs. "By order of the Sirens Creed, you're under arrest."

The man laughed again before his voice turned higher, into a feminine tone. His head snapped back and his eyes were replaced by pitch black demonic ones, eyes that looked as if they had no soul in them.

"Shinseina Tawagoto!" **(Holy Shit!)** Dr. Frost screamed in Japanese. "Anatawadare?" **(Who are you?)**

"Watashi wa `anata ga koko de nani o shite iru no?', Anata ga motome sa rerubeki mondai wa arutoomoimasu." **(I think the question you should be asking is, 'What are you doing here?')** The woman inside the man spoke back in fluent Japanese. "Shikashi, watashi wa kyō totemo ureshi-sō kanjite irunode, watashi wa tsumorida, watashi wa watashi no chīsana kyōdai to kazoku no saikai o motsu yō ni motomete imasunode, watashi wa, koko ni iru yo to iimasu." **(But since I'm feeling jubilant today, I'm gonna say that I'm here, because I'm seeking to have a family reunion with my little brothers.)**

The man smiled, and beckoned the teal clad mermaid to come over and the woman in the man whispered, "The ones who bear the name Dragon."

"What?" Dr. Frost asked just as the man threw down a small silver ball, which then emitted a loud screech and made the scientist cover her helmet. "Note to self." She muttered under her breath. "Sound regulators for the helmets."

Nearby, a groan emitted and Dr. Frost ran over to the guy, struggling to get up from his position. So the junior league doctor unfroze him and he kept tumbling down.

"Sir?" She asked only to get the Indian man scrambling away from her and screaming. "YOU'RE WELCOME!" She hollered. When the GCPD declared the Sirens Creed a menace, about half of the city agreed. Over time it reduced slowly but surely. Now it was getting close to third.

As Dr. Frost, skated away on the ice paths she created, she said to herself at one point, "The ones who bear the name Dragon. Why does something about that phrase seem so familiar?"

Meanwhile, Carly was walking to class when she received a text from Helen

 _Now remember, I'm not gonna be around you all the time so try to maintain your anger._ She said.

"Ok." She muttered slowly.

"Hey." Diablo said next to Carly.

"How'd you get here?" Carly asked.

The Latino merman/werewolf hybrid smiled with pride radiating off of him. "I'm a trickster. It's my job. Besides, you really don't have to do this. You can skip school ya know."

"No." Carly said firmly. "I want to go to school, I wanna learn to control this. I want a semi-freaking normal life. Capiche?"

"Totes capache." said Diablo. Carly entered Ms. Trumble's room while Diablo's voice carried over to her fine tuned ears. "Just try not to get too angry or stressed, or upset." Carly nodded, to show him that she got the message. "Or excited, or stimulated. Now, I think that sounds a bit morbid, if you don't go all crazy-sorry I'll stop." Carly let out a breath of relief, glad that he was shutting up. "Good luck." With that, he left the block.

"Everyone settle down." came the pompous drawling sound of one Ms. Trumble as she walked in. Barbara Trumble was a senior member of staff and a chemistry teacher who hated the Santos family with a fiery passion so bright it made all people cringe at the sight of the middle aged teacher. "Let's start with a summary of last night's reading." Hands flew up. "Evie, settle your hand down, everyone knows you did the reading." She started to walk down the aisle eyeing the juniors with her usual stinkeye.

"How about...Caroline?" Ms. Trumble asked the werecougar.

"Ms. Trumble my name is Carly." She corrected.

"Since you're volunteering to correct your superiors," said Trumble sadistically. "You can start the lesson with the summary of last night's reading?"

 _The reading?_ Carly thought. _Oh, crap._ In the excitement of last night, Carly only had time to skim over the assigned reading before passing out in her bed. "Uh.." Using the best of her ability, she summarized all she could and braced herself for the berating of the arrogant teacher. Ms. Trumble expected only the best and brightest so unless you gave a perfect summary of assignments like reading the textbook, you were in for the self-esteem blows of your life.

"Is that the best you can do?" Trumble asked. "How about you summarize anything you read in your entire life? A blog? The back of a cereal box? A text even?" Carly was panicking under the pressure and was trying to keep it together even as her breath quickened. She had to hide her hands as her claws were slowly coming out. "Thank you Carly, for extinguishing any hope I had for any of your generation. Thank you for clarifying they call blondes dumb. Or is that

Carly's fangs were coming out even though her mouth was clamped shut and she wasn't the first to get mad. Cam gripped his pencil, almost breaking it in two. Two blond girls screamed, "How dare you!"

Zac noticed Carly's breathing pattern and mentally prepared himself to get Carly out of there in case she shifted.

Just then, the door burst open as Evangeline "Evie" McLaren burst in and seeing her friend, brought down Carly's beating heart. "I'm sorry I'm late Ms. Trumble."

"You're late Evie." Trumble drawled. "I hope you have an excuse for your tardiness."

"Yes I do." said Evie, bringing a pass. "I had a late meeting with the school newspaper."

"Take your seat." Ms. Trumble ordered and sure enough, Evie took her seat next to Carly.

"How's it going?" Evie asked.

"Great actually." said Carly, feeling completely calm. "How come you were so late?"

"Oh the newspaper director was late." said Evie. "Something about the coffee maker being broken."

"Again?" Carly asked, rolling her eyes. "I swear that teacher's lounge never gets fixed. First the toaster, now the coffee maker."

After class ended, Carly walked out and Zac caught up to her. "Carly how did you do that?"

"What do you mean?" Carly asked her friend.

"One minute Trumble is berating the crap out of you and next you're happy as a baby orca." said Zac stopping. "Did I just say that out loud?" He shook his head with Carly giggling. "This clan stuff is getting to me. Personally I blame the Blade Boys and Zoe for dragging me on that camping trip in the middle of the ocean." Carly laughed while Zac smiled a little.

"But I don't understand what happened." said Carly. "It's like you said, one second I want to tear apart Ms. Trumble, and then, Evie comes in and I'm ok."

"That's it." said Zac. "This might work."

"What might work?" said Carly.

"Remember what you told us on the night of the full moon?" Zac asked. "You found Evie's jacket and you recognized her. You didn't see us at first because you were too caged up inside. In the locker room, when you heard us talking while being trapped in my force field, and you came back. But now, I see the pattern. Whenever your friend is around, you regain control."

"Like an anchor." Carly finished.

"Exactly." said Zac. "We'll work on it because you can't always have your friends around. I say you practice some more."

At the Gold Coast Police Department station, Thomas and Lindsay Carter, Anthony Awad, Jessica Turner, Rob Blakely and Martin Chaplin were all examining the footage from the confrontation from Dr. Frost and the Indian man, identified as Ayush Gupta.

"Mr. Gupta has been released." said Thomas Carter, Helen's father who was a lawyer hired to represent Ayush.

"I have to admit this is new territory for me." said the District Attorney Jessica, watching the girl come out of the man's body. She was wearing a full black body suit and a face mask covering everything except her long midnight black hair.

"This is new territory for all of us." said Chief of Police, Awad.

"Well I just did a check up on all of the suspects." said Rob. "And the ones the Sirens-" He was cut off by a heated glare from the district attorney. "I mean you all caught last night are still recovering. But the Mr. Gupta seems to be confused and claims he has no memory of the incident."

"I also have a CAT scan of all of the suspects." said Dr. Chaplin, plugging into the computer, a large white USB which then displayed the scans of the suspects' brains.

"Look at this." Rob observed. "Areas of the brain are still showing signs of being overwhelmed."

"Particularly the occipital lobe and the frontal lobe." Rob observed. "The parts of the brain that control executive function and vision."

"I certainly don't think that the law is prepared to deal with this kind of criminal." said Lindsay Carter, Helen's mother and an officer of the force.

"Hopefully we can catch up." said Awad.

"It's hard to believe that we live in a world where this kind of impossible even exists." said Rob as the adults walked outside.

"Luckily it's also a world where the Sirens Creed exists." said Thomas.

"Amen to that." piped up Dr. Chaplin, who worked with the Sirens Creed today and was still up to date on their adventures. In fact, he was the first saved civilian of them!

"I still think that those criminals need to face the law." said Mrs. Carter.

"Oh Lindsay!" Thomas cried out following his wife.

"That leaves the rest of the suspects, innocent names to be cleared." said Chief Awad.

"You know, I once saw the Sirens Creed." said Jessica.

"Oh really?" Rob asked, already familiar of the heroes appearing all over Queensland news.

"It wasn't much." said Jessica. "I was getting my coffee, and I saw it. It was just a blur and a gust of pink, but it was pretty damn cool."

Dr. Chaplin smiled as he returned to Kuroda Industries, proud of his teenage friends.

The day passed as late into the dusky setting of the sky. The street lights were illuminating, the people walked on the street. Especially in Chinatown, when at this time of year, the street market was booming in it's business since it was tourist season due to America's spring break.

Walking on the streets, were the Tiraken Twins with their respective girlfriends.

"After a long day of crap." said Helen. "We deserve a night to lighten up."

"Yeah in Chinatown." said Xandou. "Where every other corner, there's someone on a bicycle trying to run you over."

"Well it was your idea to come here." said Kimi.

"I stand by my ideas." said Xandou shrugging.

"I have to say, being in Chinatown reminds me of home." said Xhiva.

"Your house is…" Helen paused realizing what he meant. "Oh. You mean India dontcha?"

The Indian teen nodded. "Are you ok?" Kimi asked him.

"Well don't get me wrong." said the Indian accented teenager. "I love Australia as much as the next merman but I grew up in Mumbai. It's hard to miss the place you grew up in."

"And Dad as well." said Xandou, clapping his younger-by-15 minutes' shoulder.

"Children!" An old Chinese woman broke their thoughts. She wore a pink dress and was apparently the manager of the tourist store she owned. "Penny for your thoughts?" She spread out her arms showing the merchandise.

The teen merfolk looked at each other before Xhiva shrugged and said, with the others walking inside, "Eh, why not?"

"You are tourists yes?" The woman asked.

"Sorry no." said Helen. "But you've got nice stuff."

"Why thank you." The old woman said. "Got big stock in today. How about….oh!" She rushed to a shelf and plucked out a box. Standing in front of the teenagers, she opened the blue ornate box to reveal a beautiful jade dragon. "Big sale today."

"Oh look." Helen said to Xandou. "It matches your eyes."

"Oh shut up." Xandou said kissing his girlfriend.

"Young love." said the woman. "It is beautiful. With this dragon, good things will happen for you."

"That's nice of you." said Xandou. "But no need to. See, here's the thing." Using the benefit of his sleeveless shirt, he flexed his porcalin skin muscles. "I don't need a dragon. I **am** a dragon."

Xhiva and Helen snorted while Kimi rolled her eyes.

"Don't push it bro." said Xhiva.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Helen asked. "Oh Dragon Lord."

"It's in my name." said Xandou. "In English it would be Dragon."

Kimi's ears perked up, and remembered what the girl in the man had said, "The ones who bear the name Dragon." Slowly, the pieces started coming together as she compiled a list of people who might have been the criminal. But what was more shocking was the fact that the answer was right in front of her.

"What did you say?" Kimi asked.

"That my brother is over his head?" Xhiva asked.

"No after that." said Kimi.

"I don't need a dragon?" Xandou asked.

"NO!" Kimi exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips. "In the middle!"

"My name means Dragon?" Xandou asked.

"I will go get more stock." said the old woman leaving the store to the back.

"Didn't I tell you Kimi?" Xhiva asked. "Our name Tiraken is Southern Hindi, Tamil, for Dragon."

"Kims what's the deal?" Helen asked.

"Xhiva." said Kimi, snapping her fingers. "Can you pull up any of the footage at 6th and Cornell?"

"Of course I can. Why?" Xhiva asked.

"I want to show you guys something." Kimi said.

The group all moved outside of the shop into an alley far from sight. When Xhiva was going to work, using his hacking and technopathic powers, the rest of the double date talked separately.

"Kimi what is going on?" Helen asked.

"I encountered the criminal." said Kimi.

"You did?" Xandou asked. "Why'd you let him get away?"

"Actually it's a her." said Kimi. "I couldn't because she was too quick. Now Xandou this footage might come as a shock to you."

"What makes you say that?" The Chinese boy asked, narrowing his eyebrows and crossing his arms.

"Because I think that this girl might be related to you." said Kimi, to a now dumbfounded Xandou.

"I'm in." called out Xhiva, bringing the group in. They all saw the footage of Gupta throwing a small flash bomb and in a hazing light. coming out of the man's back, was a woman with long flowing black hair and black clothing.

"Did not see that coming." said Helen.

"Nope." Xhiva agreed.

"She said she was here for a family reunion." said Kimi.

"But with who?" Xandou asked.

"She said with the ones who bear the name Dragon." said Kimi.

"Us." Xhiva realized. "She was looking for us."

"But why?" Helen asked.

"Wait a minute." said Xandou. "Charcol eyes in all the suspects, ability to possess people, and looking for the ones with the name Dragon." He turned to his brother and spoke in Chinese. "Xiōngdì, nǐ bù rènwéi tā shì…" **(Brother, you don't think it's…)**

"Tā bùnéng." **(It can't be.)** Xandou responded, knowing Helen understood them.

"That's not all." said Kimi breaking the twins out of it. "She said she was looking for her brothers."

The tension in the air, became so thick, even a butter knife couldn't sever it.

"Oh Lord." Helen breathed out. "This just got complicated."

Meanwhile, at the cafe, Carly was serving drinks when Cam and her locked eye contact with each other and Carly motioned for him to go outside while she followed him.

"Cam." said Carly. "I want to talk to you."

"Oh no." He buried his blonde haired head into his hands. "Look, if this isn't working out for you…"

"No, no it's not you." said Carly. "It's me. It's recent developments. You know, Cam, I think I know now why it's been hard for me to gain control over my new...abilities. It's because I haven't accepted it. And even though I thought I was a calm cool girl, I guess I have more feelings bottled up inside."

"Your dad?" Cam guessed.

Carly nodded grimly. "He's one of the reasons. But now that I've had some time to think about this, maybe, being a werecat isn't so bad after all. It's hard, but I want to do good. I'm gonna do everything I can to be a good girlfriend."

Cam smiled. "You already are." They kissed for a moment before breaking apart. "You know, I used to complain that nothing ever happens in this town. But thanks to you, I'm less bored."

"You big goof." said Carly laughing.

"Here." He picked up a white flower from a table that had a small vase of flowers.

"You got me a secondhand flower." said Carly.

"So I'm a cheapskate." Cam retorted. "But I think you know that." He put the flower in her hair. "I wonder what it's gonna be like, having a cougar for a girlfriend."

"I guess we all need to take chances here and there, don't we?" Carly asked.

"I guess we do." said Cam, before leaning in and embracing his girlfriend in a long, loving kiss.

Standing on the roof of the pristine house that the Santos family lived in, enjoying the nice quiet night, was Thalie in her blue pajamas. She was watching the night sky, with the wind blowing into her now longer dark red curly hair that had blue streaks in them as a result of being an Omega.

"Hola!" A bright cheery voice sounded. Hovering in midair, was a girl with blonde hair that had pink streaks in them, wearing a pink tanktop, pink flats, and black pants.

"Hi Rose." said Thalie. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Uh floating." Rose corrected.

"Oh sorry." said Thalie, brushing her hair out of her face. "Poor choice of words. My bad."

"I just got here actually." Rose replied, landing down softly. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"My birthday." Thalie replied. Tomorrow, would be April 15, Thalie's 16th birthday.

"Ah yes!" said Rose. "I knew we should have had a quinceañera last year."

"And I said it was too much." said Thalie. "You guys, my friends and family, are all the birthday presents I would want. I just can't believe, that this year has gone by really fast."

"Time does that." said Rose. "It flies when you're having fun as well. Which is what you should be preparing to do, so we'll talk later ok?"

When Rose was about to fly away, Thalie grabbed her arm. "What's wrong? Come on, Rose, it can't be that bad."

Rose blew out a breath and trailed her lips. "Uh the team might have put together who our new bad guy is. Or in this case, bad girl."

Thalie raised a ginger eyebrow. "And?"

"Well long story short." said Rose. "Security footage shows a girl coming out of a guy's body, the same guy then tells the po-po that he didn't know what he was doing and CAT scans of all the people who said the same thing show signs of being intruded. It is not mind control after all. But to sum it up, we've got a criminal that can possess people's bodies."

Thalie gaped like a fish. "Are you kidding me?"

"No and here's the real shocker." said Rose. "Xhiva and Xandou managed to ID the girl, the one who's possessing people. Her names' Sagi-Weilan Tiraken."

The last word caught Thalie off guard. "Tiraken?!"

"Xhiva and Xandou's sister." said Rose to a shocked Thalassa Santos.

** RESTORATION** ****

In Chinatown, the old woman who treated the kids she showed the jade dragon to, locked up shop and retreated to her apartment room. She sat in front of the mirror, took off her grey haired wig, which revealed long flowing black hair and took off her aged woman makeup to reveal a twenty year old, Sagi-Weilan Tiraken.

"Aaaaannd, another one bites the dust." She said in the mirror, wiping her hands.


	4. A Visit From the East

Deep within the Royal Pines Golf Course, people in summer and baggy clothes wandered around the area, living in the quiet community of a were-shifter pack. There are two types of this type of community, industrial and natural. The Tauna were natural, one of the few in Australia who chose to live by their roots in the forest as a somewhat nomadic tribe, while the industrial pack lived in cities or small towns, up to date on modern human society.

In the late hours of April 14, 2016, most of the pack's women and children were still sleeping, some men were sleeping with their families while some were-shifters chose to stay out on patrol and guard the pack's territory.

Within the biggest RV, surrounded by a circle of trees, was a sick Alpha Ralph Talbot. He was lying in the queen sized bed, coughing up black blood, vomiting and sweating profusely. His wife, Luna Nevaeh, was dabbing his forehead, aware that her daughter Tabitha, was listening outside, despite being told to stay in bed.

"How is the pack?" Ralph asked.

"The pack can wait." said Neveah, wiping black goo leaking out of his nose. "What matters is that you get better."

Ralph coughed violently, his eyes glowing a bright searing red, his breaths turned into growls and his claws were coming out.

"I just wished I had given Gabriel my blessing sooner." said Ralph.

"You think that you didn't act in time?" Neveah asked. "Your son and Xavier are now engaged. At least you could be happy. The healers-"

"Honey." Ralph said. "It's best not to discuss it in front of Tabitha. She's 6 after all."

"I told her to go to bed." said Neveah. Stepping outside, the were-cheetah spotted the small blonde little werewolf outside.

"Come on little cub." said Neveah scooping up her daughter in her arms. "Let's get you to your den."

The brunette were-cheetah, using her speed, jumped up the ledge to the little girl's bed, and tucked her in.

"Mommy?" Tabitha asked. "Is Daddy gonna get better?"

Neveah froze, unable to think of a sugarcoated explanation for her daughter. "Come here." Her daughter climbed out of bed and into her mother's arms, where Neveah started purring out of content, and stroking her daughter's head, who by then shifted comfortably in her mother's arms. "Your daddy is a strong man, Tabby. He may be sick now, but I promise you, your daddy is gonna feel much much better."

"Ok Mommy." said the 6 year old, now a little tired.

"Come on." She started to tuck Tabitha into bed when a frantic knocking noise sounded on the door. "Stay here, Tabitha." Neveah jumped down with catlike grace and ran using her cheetah speed to rush to the door.

"Mrs. Garou." Neveah greeted.

"Please!" The Latina werecoyote exclaimed, rushing in the house. "You have to help me!"

"Mrs. Garou." said Neveah. "We're doing our best but-"

"My son has been missing for 10 days!" She held up a photograph of him. "His name is Louis Garou! He's 5'4, 12 years old and he was last seen in the Gold Coast City! I know he's the pack scout this time but people don't just disappear."

"Mrs. Garou." said Neveah. "We're doing our very best. We've sent out a team of pack missionaries to find him."

"It's been 10 days and still no sign of him!" Mrs. Garou exclaimed. "I need to find my son!"

"We will find him." said Neveah. "For now, you must rest. We will find him. I promise." As the Luna took the frantic werecoyote out, Tabitha was listening with her hypersensitive ears. She looked at the waning moon through her window and whispered, "Louis, where are you?"

9 hours passed like the wind, and it became April 15, 2016 as Thalassa "Thalie" Santos woke up in her blue walled room. Checking her digital alarm clock, she smiled and said, "Oh, it's my birthday." To her, her birthdays just seemed like another day, with a lot of ice cream involved. Next to the digital alarm clock was a small blue cubed present with a lever and a large sticky note saying in orange writing, PRESS ME! :)

Thalie laughed, knowing who that could have been from. Diablo tended to leave his pranks with orange writing or orange things, since it was his favorite color. He called it, his signature mark.

"Nice try Lobito." said Thalie, walking into her bathroom and brushed her teeth. She heard the door creak open and checked outside to see that it was her fluffy white Persian cat, Poseidon.

"Morning Poseidon." She said. "No, I don't have kitty food for you, but I promise I will get some for you as soon as I'm dressed."

She went to her dressers, picked out some clothes and turned around to find Poseidon about to press his paw on the lever on the present!

"Wait Poseidon!" Using her built in stamina and speed from being Ocean Girl, she ran to the nightstand, leaped off the wall while grabbing the cat, and performing an aerial and side somersaulting on the floor.

"Whoo!" She exclaimed. "Looks like those years of ballet lessons and months of kicking ass have paid off. Now Poseidon, would you get your claws out of my arms please?"

The cat who had gone stiff, and his tail was the size of a large club didn't budge. His claws were digging into Thalie's skin and was starting to draw blood.

"Poseidon?" Thalie asked. "Can you get off my arm, so I can keep it? Please?" Still nothing. "Tell you what." Her face turned slightly green at the bribe she was about to make. "I'll get you some jumbo shrimp today."

At that, the cat leapt off her while Thalie rubbed her arms and gagged at the thought of seafood. Ever since she learned she was part mermaid, seafood to her was the same as cannibalism and she would freak out at the sight of seafood. She had started eating seaweed, but that was it.

She looked outside her door then out the windows, and opened her closet door's secret compartment to reach her sword, her katana, that was her signature weapon. She grabbed it, and steadily crept over to the present, tapped the present, and then used her powers to telikentically push the lever and unsheathed her sword at the ready.

All that came out of the box, was Diablo's voice sounding, _Happy Birthday Thals!_

Then suddenly, booming out of the present was a loud marching band sound that almost burst her eardrums, which thankfully stopped but then a cloud of smoke came out that came along with a horrid stench that filled the entire room.

The smell was so frighteningly bad, Thalie had to open all windows, doors and used her moon ring to clear the foul air.

"What was all that noise?" Rita asked, coming into the room.

"A little wake up call present from one Diablo Nagual." said Thalie.

"It doesn't surprise me that he snuck by the alarm system." said Rita. "Even if it was by himself. But other than that, happy birthday." Rita gave her only daughter a hug which Thalassa returned.

"Come on downstairs." said Rita.

"Anything to get rid of the smell." said Thalie.

"What that the small foul odor I was smelling?" said Rita.

"Don't ask." said Thalie smiling.

After breakfast, which consisted of Rita's delicious pancakes, the Santos family went on an exclusive swim out on parts of the reef that even Thalie had not been on. After the enjoyable swim, they surfaced in the moon pool.

"That was amazing Mom!" Thalie exclaimed. "I can't believe I've never seen that part of the reef before!"

"Told you I knew a few secret spots." said Rita. "Are you excited it's your birthday?"

"Uh do mermaids have scales?" Thalie asked, hugging her mother. "I just wish Dad could be here. And Aunt Nerida"

"Me too Thalassa." said Rita, wiping some tears away. "Me too."

Harry Santos, Rita's husband and Thalie's biological died in the plane crash that Veridia caused that almost killed Rita and Thalie in the process when Thalie was just 4 years old. She was rescued by her late aunt Nerida, who was the leader of the Mako Pod at the time and she lived in Florida for two years until being adopted by the Blakely's and at the time, her name was Blair until she completed the prophecy of her birth and was reunited with her biological mother who believed her to be dead until she changed her name to Thalassa Isabel Santos, her birth name and moved back to the Santos Household. Of course, her adoptive parents always welcomed her with open arms, even her adoptive brother, Zac.

Her father had come back a few times as a ghost, but only when Thalassa needed him the most.

Meanwhile, at the Ocean Cafe, Zac, Cam, Rose, Helen, Kimi, and Evie were all hanging out. They all cooed when Zac brought up a photograph of a 6 year old Thalassa, making a mess out of frosting on her face.

"I can't believe that it's been 10 years since you brought Blair home!" said Evie. "Or Thalassa."

"I still don't get why she changed her name." said Cam.

"Well she wanted to start a new life." said Kimi. "Theoretically you can observe why she would legally change her name."

"Big words there Kims." said Helen. "Just think, a few weeks later, she meets me, then Rose, then Kimi."

"And then a month later, I get the ability to breathe underwater." Thalie's voice sounded from behind.

"There's the birthday girl!" Zac exclaimed, hugging her.

"Happy Birthday!" Evie exclaimed.

As Thalie sat down, Carly came by with a mango juice and sat it down in front of Rose. "Happy Birthday Thalie." said Carly.

"Thanks." said Thalie. "How are you coming along, with the werecat thing?"

"It's a little hard but I'll manage." said Carly. "Thanks though."

"You're 16 now!" Kimi exclaimed. "Do you know what that means?"

"She gets to have a giant cake and the best sweet 16 in the world?" Rose asked innocently. They all laughed at Rose's tendencies to be childlike, it's why she was one of the most important mermaids to the team. They would go insane without her positivity.

"No silly." the teen scientist said laughing. "Learner's permit!"

"Oh yeah!" Thalie exclaimed. "Right, driving."

"Ease up the waves girl." said Helen. "You've got about 2 years to prepare to get a real car."

"Hey Thalie." said Zac. "What do you wanna do today?"

"Oh I don't know." said the redhaird halfblood. "I guess I'll just go around, see the sights, and see how everyone's doing."

"Great." said Helen. "I suggest you get to it."

Thalie chuckled. "Ok." As the Australian-American teen went off, Helen whispered to Zac, "She might find out about the party."

"Eh." said Zac. "She'll find out sooner or later. She's a smart kid."

"I'm just glad Diablo's throwing the party." said Rose. "Not like **someone** who tried to be too clever."

"It was a mistake ok?" Zac groaned.

"I have to admit, seeing a literal little mermaid was a bit hilarious." said Kimi. "Then she was trapped in fruit punch. Priceless!"

Thalie went to the beach and walked around for a bit. She would smile at a few kids here and there before meeting a middle aged beautiful deeply tanned woman by the name of Esmeralda Durant-Marino.

"Hi Esme!" Thalie said.

"Thalassa!" The Portuguese mermaid exclaimed and then hit her on the shoulder. "How could you not tell me that it was your birthday?!"

"I guess it slipped." said Thalie.

"Slipped?" Esme exclaimed. "So, what's a mermaid to do on her birthday?"

"Oh I'm just gonna go on about the city." said Thalie. "See what's today's adventure. By the way, where's your husband? Or Ondina?"

"Phoebus is busy." said Esme. "Ondina, she's at her job, teaching the little hatchlings at Mako."

"Sounds like a dual life." said Thalie.

"Speaking of which." Esme said, before shaking her head. "Never mind, enjoy your birthday!"

"You were gonna ask me something about my other life weren't you?" Thalie asked. "It's ok, Esme. We're doing our best to clean the streets but we still haven't caught that one criminal. Diablo calls her, The Puppetmaster."

"What for?" Esme asked.

"She apparently has the power to possess people." said Thalie.

"Any idea who she is?" Esme asked.

Thalie paused for a minute before saying, "If this person was someone close to me, I would tell someone like my mom, but in this case, it's not anyone's business until her family says it's ok."

"I understand." said Esme. "But I would appreciate some trust once in awhile."

Thalie nodded before running behind some rocks and diving into the water, swimming in her silver tail to Mako Island.

Meanwhile, Chinatown was in it's usual busy activity, cars driving by, people walking the crosswalks on their way to work, and the markets were in it's daily rambunctious stupor.

Xhiva and Xandou Tiraken were walking down it's ways on their way to find the mysterious woman who had offered them the jade dragon last night.

"Are you sure that it's even her?" Xhiva asked walking down some shops.

"Bro, did you not even see the footage?" said Xandou.

"Yes, I did." said Xhiva. "I saw the video numerous times. But still, I say we should wait a bit longer."

Xandou scoffed. "Wait? You wanna wait? You've already done that, hell, **we've** done that for the past 6 years! Now that we know where she is now, you're backing out?"

"I'm not backing out." said Xhiva. "It's just for the first time in my life, I don't know where to begin."

"Really?" Xandou said. "I can think of some things. 'Hey Sagi-Weilan, it's good to see you! or 'Hey Sagi Weilan, tell us, why did you abandon your little brothers?'

"I guess." said Xhiva. "Do you wanna get some pork fried rice?"

"Why are you so scared of meeting our sister?" Xandou asked.

"Oh I don't know." said Xhiva. "I guess I don't wanna see that our sister has changed into a sociopathic bitch or worse, some skanky girl who would do anything for fun, including framing innocent people."

"Uh didn't **we** used to do that?" Xandou asked.

Xhiva rolled his red/brown eyes. "You're missing the point, as usual."

Xandou shrugged smugly. "It's what I do best."

"Wait, I think we're here." said Xhiva in front of the gift shop from last night.

"Alright." said Xandou rubbing his hands together. "Let's move."

Before he could step behind the curtains, Xhiva grabbed his shoulder and hissed to him in Chinese, "Bùyào zuò rènhé chǔnshì." **(Don't do anything stupid.)**

Xandou narrowed his eyes at his brother and said, "Bù huì mèngxiǎng de." **(Wouldn't dream of it.)**

The Chinese-Indian brothers went in through the curtain into the incense filled room, all the shelves lined with antiques and fans. Even though it was daytime, the lighting in the room felt appropriate for the night.

"Children?" said the old Chinese woman from last night, now wearing jade green robes. "Ah, Zǎoshang hǎo." **(Good morning)**. She bowed with the boys doing the same thing.

"Nǐ hǎo, xiǎojiě." **(Hello, miss.)** Xhiva greeted, as he was the one who did the talking in these kinds of situations. "Wǒ xiǎng zhīdào nǐ shìfǒu kěyǐ bāngzhù wǒmen zhǎo dōngxi. Yǒudiǎn zhòngyào." **(We were hoping you could help us find something. Something important.)**

"Yīdìng shì." **(It must be.)** said the woman. "Méiyǒu hěnduō qīngshàonián zài zhège shíhou xǐngle." **(Not many teenagers are awake at this time.)**

"Qíshí, dì èr gè xiǎngfǎ." **(Actually, on second thought.)** said Xandou suddenly. "Wǒmen zhèngzài xúnzhǎo wǒmen zhèngzài xúnzhǎo de rén." **(We're looking at someone we're looking for.)** That sentence alone, made the woman freeze at a shelf as the Chinese green eyed teen smirked. "Cut the crap Weilan, we know it's you."

The woman turned around and started pulling on the skin of her face, disgusting the boys in front of her. She paid no attention to that and continued to peel off her face until she finally unmasked herself to be a beautiful twenty two year old Chinese woman with long flowing wavy black hair, dark brown eyes and a smile.

"I have to say I'm disappointed." Sagi-Weilan said. "It took you 12 hours to find me. Should have taken you 6."

Xhiva started moving slowly towards his sister. "Sagi, is it really you?"

"Of course Xhiva." She said. "Seems that some things haven't changed about you, little guy." Her attention turned to Xandou, who was fuming in outrage. "What about you Xandou? No hugs? No welcome backs for your big sister?"

"How about we start with 'What the hell are you doing here, where have you been and why are you back?"

SW only chuckled at her brother's impatient antics. "That's the little brother I know."

"Like I said, cut the crap." said Xandou. "Why are you literally possessing innocent people to commit crimes?"

"I had to get your attention somehow." said Sagi-Weilan. "And what's this talk coming out of your trap? What happened to you?"

"Life happened." said Xandou. "Life you never bothered to check up on until now."

"Ok! Ok!" Xhiva said, getting in between his quarrelling siblings. "What we're both trying to say Sis, is that a lot has happened to us in the past 6 years. It's great that you're back, but we don't know if we can trust you considering you ran away. Why did you run away?"

Sagi-Weilan looked down in sadness. _Could I bear to tell them?_ She thought. _Maybe, no. They've been through enough as it is._

"Mother and I got into a big argument after my last assignment, didn't go so good." She said. "She hit me then I ran. I wanted to start over, away from our parents. Where is Father by the way?"

"He's...incognito." said Xandou.

"Listen." said SW. "I know I've been MIA and you have every right to be mad at me and not trust me at all. But all I'm asking for, all I want now, is to be reunited with my baby brothers. It's huge, considering I haven't been there for you guys, but that's what I want now. A chance to redeem myself. Please."

The twins turned to each other, and started speaking in the head in Hindi, using the psychic link between twins.

 _tum kya sochate ho?_ _ **(What do you think?)**_ Xhiva asked.

 _aap smaart ek rahe hain._ _ **(You're the smart one.)**_ Xandou replied. _aap shot kahate hain._ _ **(You call the shots.)**_

Xhiva bit on his lip. _vah ek aparaadhee ho sakata hai, lekin vah hamaaree bahan hai._ _ **(She may be a criminal, but she's our sister.)**_ He looked at her for a second. _main kahana hai ki ham use ek mauka de._ _ **(I say we give her a chance.)**_

Xandou shot his sister a scornful look. _Theek._ _ **(Fine.)**_ He said. As Xhiva started to walk towards her, he grabbed his arm and sent a psychic message, _Any funny business from her, and we're shipping her back to China, or wherever it was she really has been._

Xhiva walked towards her and said to her in Chinese, "Wǒmen xiāngxìn nǐ." **(We trust you.)** SW smiled before Xhiva stopped her. "Mùqián." **(For now.)**

Whilst that happened, in the seas near Mako Island, an Alma Mater lesson was in session. The small mermaids with the mermen were all practicing their teamwork in controlling and manipulating water balls into steam, and turning it back.

"That's better guys, take a break." said Ondina, who was teaching the class. "And ladies, I don't wanna hear about discomfort just because you're being forced to work with boys, not my problem."

As the little hatchlings went under the water to commence their rest period, Ondina dragged her hand across her face. "Kids."

"Come on they're not that bad." Zoe's voice rang out.

"You try dealing with 5 mermaids and 5 mermen a day for a job." said Ondina.

"You do realize you're talking to a princess who has to help build a forming clan with her aunt." Zoe gestured to her black diamond bra and silver jewelry.

"Point taken." said Ondina to her best friend.

"I hear from my surrogate sister that you're doing well for your classes." said Zoe. "Thalie is quite impressed."

"She saw me?" Ondina asked. "How come she never told me she was here?"

"She didn't want to interrupt you nor put pressure on you or your class." said Zoe.

"Now that you're also on break," said Zoe. "Let's take a walk."

When the girls got their legs, they took a walk in the woods. Luckily, Zoe frequently visited land on the weekends so she was wearing clothes whenever she wanted to go on land. Luckily, the Tirakens had so much influence, that they sold the house a few months after Jacob left and moved all of the stuff in the house to the place where the Blade Boys lived, that was now a safe haven, where Zac spent his weekends, with his cousin and friends.

"So, how are things?" Ondina said.

"I don't know." said Zoe. "Raiden's driving me nuts a little, my aunt is fine, and I haven't heard from my dad."

"Well it's Raiden." said Ondina laughing. "He's gonna drive everyone nuts. I guess your dad is just giving you the space to be a princess. But otherwise, got a crush yet?"

"I almost have no time for socializing." said Zoe. "Besides, I don't think that there's a boy out there for me."

"Oh don't say that." said Ondina. "I'm sure there's someone for you."

"Like you and Erik?" Zoe asked, making the blonde curly haired mermaid stop.

"Zoe, it was one date." She said.

"One date out of three which we arranged?" Zoe asked.

 _And the third date being the one where things got out of control._ Ondina thought. _Gods, I couldn't sit for a week._

"Uh." She said, brushing her hand on her frizzy hair. "About that, I don't think I should be doing this anymore. Seeing Erik, behind the law's back. Even he was unsure when we started seeing each other on the full moon."

"Ondina I will support you and my cousin on whatever you two do." said Zoe. "But you guys are best friends for life! Yet, you may even be soulmates!"

"Oh stop." said Ondina, bushing. "We're not that special."

"Well if you say so." said Zoe. "But, maybe you should see him tonight. While everyone is distracted. For one last time."

"I guess." said Ondina.

"Wait." said Zoe stopping her when they were about to go in the water. "When you told me your tail was sore some days ago, you and Erik….didn't….do it did you?"

"What?" Ondina asked. "Did what?"

Zoe gave her a blank look. "You didn't have sex with him did you?"

"What?" Ondina asked, clearly outraged. "Of course not! How could you think I did such a thing? He's 19 years old!"

"Ok! Ok!" Zoe exclaimed. "I didn't mean it like that! I'm just saying that these kinds of dates shouldn't be taken for granted."

"We just talk ok?" Ondina asked. "It's not like we kissed or anything."

"Then what did you do on that last date?" Zoe asked.

"We had a picnic in the woods by the creek." said Ondina. "We had some chit chat, then we went home. I woke up the next morning with my tail sore because I was sleeping the wrong way. It happens."

"Me desculpa, Onda." **(I'm sorry, Ondina.)** said the tanned brunette girl in Portuguese, hugging her friend. "Só quero cuidar de você. Quero dizer, vamos, você me levou e cuidou de mim, então eu tenho que devolver o favor de alguma forma." **(I just wanna look out for you. I mean, come on, you took me in and took care of me, so I have to return the favor somehow.)**

Ondina merely laughed. "Obrigada."

"I have to go." said Zoe. "You should too, your students will probably be waiting for you."

Ondina and Zoe ran to the beach and dived in, to continue their daily activities. As Ondina continued to teach her pupils, she pushed down the feeling of guilt of lying to Zoe, but it was only one time right? What were the odds of any consequences? But little did Ondina know, that soon, she would regret her carelessness.

The Tiraken Trio came up to Home Base-where the Blade Boys and Erik used to live. Now it was just the Tirakens and Diablo. Phoebus, Ondina's father, had offered to take the rest in, but the boys were stubborn and mature enough to live on their own with their human butler, Alfred Nicklespend. It was a quiet two story house that was on the far shore on a hill and was near the town. It was about a 10 minute drive to the Gold Coast.

"So." Xhiva gestured to his sister, saying, "Welcome to Home Base."

"Nice place." Sagi-Weilan commented.

"You ain't seen nothing yet." said Xhiva, opening the house and opening the basement door to reveal watery light coming from the underground pool.

"Cool!" She said, walking down, with Xandou eyeing her carefully as they went down.

Down in the underground pool, built and paid for by the Tirakens, was also a secret entrance that could be opened with a passcode on the outside. The ceiling was dark but the pool had built in lights so people could see. On the left side, were 5 shelves, each in different colors and different plaques for names. Diablo's shelf was filled with orange towels, Xandou's towels were yellow, Xhiva's were green, Raiden's were of course, purple and Erik's were aqua blue.

On the right corner, was a table with files, maps, and some SCUBA gear.

"This place, is amazing!" Sagi-Weilan exclaimed.

"Miss Tiraken." a posh British voice spoke out. "It is good to see you again."

"Nicklespend?" Sagi-Weilan asked. "It's good to see you!"

"I see the young masters have found their family relative." said Nickleworth. He was a middle aged man with a balding head. He was dressed in his usual tux.

"I see you haven't changed." said Sagi-Weilan. "Where's Father?"

"Lord Agni has gone MIA." said Nickleworth.

"You were telling the truth." Sagi-Weilan said.

"Not surprised you didn't believe us." said Xandou. "Takes one to know one right?"

Suddenly, a figure burst from the water. Two figures actually. They were teenagers, one was wearing the traditional gold armor of a prince with the small amethysts emphasizing the prince's importance, and the other was bare chested, his messy hair damp over his face.

"Guys." said Diablo. "Anyone seen Cam?"

"Nope." said Xandou. "Haven't seen him since the cafe this morning."

"And who's the chick?" Raiden asked.

"If I was straight, I'd consider these guys hot." Sagi-Weilan whispered. "Especially the one with the orange eyes."

Xhiva pursed his lips. "Guys, meet my sister."

"I'd shake your hand but I'm afraid I'll get wet." She said.

"So air shake?" Diablo asked, prompting laughter from the twenty two year old woman.

"You're funny." She said. "I like you."

"Aw you're making me blush." said the type Alpha merman.

"Nice try." She said. "But I don't swing for your team." She looked around and said, frowning, "Where's the fifth?" The other boys looked fluxed at this. "Where's the fifth merman, Erik, was the name on the shelf?"

"Moved on and so will I." said Xandou, stepping to the ledge of the pool. "I'm going to the moon pool."

" **The** moon pool?." said Sagi-Weilan curiously. "God I'd give a limb to see it."

"Oh I don't think so." said Xandou before using his powers to steam his friend's tails (Raiden and Diablo could not do this) as they were trying to use their towels, and then jumping in the water.

"Was it something I said?" Sagi-Weilan asked innocently.

Meanwhile, in the Blakely house, Rita was talking with Blair/Thalie's foster parents, Rob and Lauren Blakely who were also Zac's foster parents. They were having lunch outside, this time without any "guests".

"It's glad to hear that your medical practice is perfusing well Rob." said Rita, sipping her tea. "And Lauren, are you sure you don't want to become an art teacher at Suncoast High? It would give some students like your son and daughter some incentive. Mostly Zac."

Lauren merely laughed. "No thank you. It's a great offer but I'm fine with managing the art gallery in the museum."

"Lauren?" Rob asked. "Is there something wrong?"

"It's just, Thalassa." said Lauren. "Or Blair. I miss her so much. I know she comes back for visits and sleepovers here, and I know she still loves us, but I can't help but think that she's more happier with a new family. I love her and I'm proud of what you've done for her in the span of almost two years but...I just miss her."

"I miss her too." said Rob. "But this is what we do as parents. We let our children grow and then we let them spread her wings. Maybe she spread them too soon, who knows?"

Rita sighed. "I can't have any more kids. There were issues a few years back, some surgery and that's that. I really wanted a daughter and it took becoming a teacher then a principal at a school to realize all the stuff that I was missing out on. I kept to myself so I never went out much. I wanted my little girl back but when I finally found her, she was a teenager, and had a family, she didn't need me. Then she came, talked to me then we brought you in. She wanted to live with you but she was lost and wanted to find out more about herself so she came."

Lauren frowned. "Are you saying you're a better mother?"

"Of course not." said Rita. "But I am the one who gave birth to her and raised for the first four years of her life, so I still hold legal rights."

"You are unbelievable!" Lauren exclaimed. "I was the one who took her in! She was living in a rundown orphanage in Queens with no family! The only thing she had was her name! And then you came along and brainwashed her!"

"I did no such thing!" Rita exclaimed. "She came to me!"

"Do you think you can tell me who I am or what's best for the girl I raised?" said Lauren. "The girl who cried in my arms when she had nightmares, the girl who I gave those years of dance lessons for, and the girl who let her best friends become something like sisters?"

"Ladies!" Rob exclaimed. "Let's just stop! We're all good parents of this amazing young woman, but we can't all fight! Not today!"

"I think it's best if I went home." said Rita.

"I couldn't agree more." said Rita. When she moved close to Lauren she whispered in her ear, "Even with Zac, you can pretend all you want, but a mother is something you are never going to be."

Meanwhile Thalie swam around, visiting all the islands, one right after another. She wanted to see how the merpeople were doing, since she had been slammed with schoolwork and finding out the criminal who was possessing people. Sure, it had been a shock to her, finding out that she was her friends' sister but this also meant she was on a very thin line between what she thought should be right and what **is** right. Part of her wanted to leave the boys to talk to their sister and maybe bring her in, and the protective mermaid part of her wanted to find this girl and talk to her personally since innocent people were framed because of her. It would have been hard not to follow her curiosity, but she learned a long time ago that curiosity killed the cat and if Xandou or Xhiva needed backup dealing with their sister, she and the others would always be there, waiting to help.

Walking on the shores of the South Island, the island for Agriculture and Mining, also known as Amity Island where the people in there, because of the manual labor in their jobs, very kind and respectable. Some were tough but they had good souls, Thalie walked into the forest, walking into the fields and saw a tall boy in cargo shorts and a green tshrit, working on foraging some crops in the wheat field. He was a lanky boy with flaming red hair, freckles splattered on his face, and dark hazel eyes. Thalie had heard a bit about this boy from Erik's Ares Tribe days.

"Hey!" Thalie shouted, running towards him. "You're Tanner, right?"

"Hi. Yeah, I am good lady." said the Canadian merman, smiling, getting up from his work. He seemed very laid back in the way he stood "Wait, you're an Omega?" He pointed to the blue streaks in her dark red hair.

"Uh, yeah." said Thalie absentminditly stroking her hair. "Water."

"Wait, you're that Water Omega?" Tanner asked, dropping his scythe. "Oh. My. Oceans. You're that half blood some people talk about!" He laughed gleefully, shaking her hand. "I gotta tell you, I thought you'd be taller." He gestured her body.

Thalie laughed. "That's a new one. My shortness."

Tanner laughed. "I always see the points. It's one of my many talents."

"I also hear from my step-cousin that another one of those many talents is saying hi to everyone who goes by." said the Australian-American. "I'm looking for Xandou Tiraken, a certain speedster. He's about yay big, pale skin, green eyes, has a mowhawk and-"

"And usually never smiles and has a scowl instead?" Tanner finished.

"I was gonna say always is running, but that works too." said Thalie. "Can you tell me where he is?"

"I don't know where he is." said Tanner. "I only saw where he went." He pointed northeast from where Thalie was. "He walked through here that-a-way. Looked like he was heading for Guardia Island. You should start there."

"Thanks Tanner!" Thalie said happily. "I owe you one!"

"No problem!" Tanner shouted. "Oh wait!" Thalie stopped and turned around. "When you get to Guardia, swim to the Rest Area, that's on the right side and don't get involved in anything you see. It's still a pretty tight spot for mermaids and mermen getting along. The Rest Area is the most neutral area so far."

"Right!" Thalie shouted back. "Rest Area. I'll remember!" She ran off into the water, dived in and swam to Guardia Island, the West Island of Military and Medicine.

Careful to dodge and swimming past all the "wild fields", the silver tailed mermaid was having a bit of trouble finding the Rest Area.

She tried approaching a few mermen but all were too busy. She also had no luck with some mermaids either.

 _ **Excuse me.**_ Thalie spoke through the water mind link with a mermaid. _**Can you help me find somewhere called Rest Area.**_

 _ **Oh yes I can dear.**_ Said the mermaid. _**You go down that way, make a left, it's a big circle of rocks with the waterfall, you can't miss it.**_

 _ **Thanks!**_ Thalie exclaimed.

She followed the mermaid's directions and soon enough found the waterfall lagoon. There, some merpeople were chatting, eating lunch, and some were studying.

Thalie looked around and soon enough, spotted the only person she knew with their head shaven to a mohawk.

She swam over to him and said, "Hey Xan."

He spun around, instinctively throwing a punch only for Thalie to block it.

"First of all, don't scare me like that." said Xandou. "Second, I see you've been practicing."

"Your girlfriend's taught us well." said Thalie. "Oh and I figured if I tap you, I would get the same reaction so either way, I kind of knew what was coming."

Xandou smirked. "So what brings you here?"

"I just came to tell you." said Thalie. "Rose found a leaked pipe in the Sanctum. Kimi needs an engineer to fix it so it doesn't contaminate any of the water coming in, let alone infecting us with some sewage poisoning."

"What goes on in there when I'm not in that lair?" Xandou asked.

"A lot of stuff happens with you around." said Thalie rolling her eyes.

"I do what I do." said Xandou. "Speaking of which, I thought **you'd** be in the city, or in the reef, doing it with Raiden."

"Doing what?" Thalie asked innocently.

"Oh my…" Xandou muttered in his usual impatient tone, bringing his hand across his face. "You know what I mean! Having sex of course!"

Thalie's face turned almost as red as her hair. "No, no way! We're nowhere **near** that part, and I don't plan on being getting there for a long time. We're just going steady and that's none of your business!"

Xandou chuckled. "Chillax water girl, I'm just screwing with you. Not like my sister." He added the last part darkly.

Thalie swam over around the rock where Xandou was resting his arms on. "Not to barge in on your business, but how is your sister?"

"Trying to pretend that the last 6 years didn't happen." said Xandou. "From the time she apparently ran away, all we get is a letter? She could have at least looked us in the eye when she said, 'Dear little brothers, I'm sorry but I have to leave. This house, this family, it's full of too many lies. Even my birth is a lie.' I was 11 years old when she left. She's never said why, always avoiding the question."

"Maybe because she's not that ready to adjust to seeing you two?" Thalie asked. "She may be the person responsible for those possesed people but she sounds like she's lost and needs help. Seems to me that you're just pushing her away."

"Of course I'm pushing her away." said Xandou. "I push everyone away."

"Xandou." said Thalie. "I know what you're feeling. You want answers but you're just too scared to pursue them."

"Scared?" Xandou laughed. "I'm not scared. I don't know, I just don't wanna think of my sister as a criminal we need to put down or worse some skanky girl."

"Well now that your sister is back." said Thalie. "It sounds like she's trying to slowly adjust back into your lives. I don't agree with her methods, but at the very least she's ready to be your sister again after she's had time to clear her head. Is it possible that you're just afraid of your memory being ruined?"

Xandou sighed, pursing his lips. "I don't know."

"I can see you need time to think." said Thalie. "But Xandou, we're your friends. Whatever you and your brother do regarding your sister, we will support you."

With that, Thalie swam off, leaving the teenage merman speedster alone at Guardia Island, vulnerable to his thoughts.

At the cafe, Cam Mitchell, Zac Blakely and Diablo Nagual were all discussing what to plan for Thalie's party.

"What about a party at the aquarium?" Cam asked.

"And risk people seeing us?" Zac asked.

"Good point." Cam said.

"We're thinking too small." said Diablo.

"Got any ideas Oh Great Party Lord Supreme?" Cam asked sarcastically.

"Ignoring that comment." said the South American teenager. "For my birthday, I would like a big Halloween spooky bash so I can bring out the wolf or a jungle themed party so I can feel right at home."

"I don't think she'll be suss to find a barnyard mess at her party." said Cam.

"Hey!" Diablo exclaimed. "That's a stereotype!"

"Ok! Ok." Zac said.

"All I'm saying is that we should find something she can relate to." said Diablo. "Something that makes her feel at home."

"Wait." Zac said. "Diablo, you're a genius!"

"He is?" Cam asked. Diablo, known for his teenage tendencies to be a bit of a goofball, and not known for his intellect, which was something he rarely used.

"Yeah." said Zac. "He said he wanted to have something that reminds him of home, so we should have it not at Rita's but at my place, where Thalie used to live when she was Blair. And Diablo said if it were his party, he would want to feel comfortable in someplace like the jungle. So we should make the theme of where she came from, America."

"Wow." said Cam. "Zac you continue to surprise me, but Diablo you surprise me the most, considering you apparently **do** have a brain."

Diablo's eyes turned bright amber orange in annoyance. "Dude! I totally have a brain! I just don't use it much."

In the reef of the Eastern Australian Current, several meters from Mako Island, two bubbling figures raced in the waters. Looking by his side, Xhiva smiled slightly at his sister who smiled back.

They stopped for a bit as they surfaced.

"You've gotten stronger." said Sagi-Weilan. "And to think, you used to be such a scrawny little guy."

"Oh come on!" Xhiva said, blushing. "I was not **that** scrawny."

"Bullshit." said Sagi-Weilan. "Puberty slapped you hard Xhi. I mean, with those adorable dimples, that shaggy hair, those lean muscles and that tall figure, surely you must have a girlfriend."

"You bet your ass he does." said a strong British voice. They both turned to see a beautiful teenage dark skinned mermaid with red streaks in her hair, gold eyes, and a suspicious glare in her gaze. "And she's better than you. Xhiva, how could you do this? Kimi is gonna kill you after I do." She cracked her knuckles.

"Ah we have a protector." said SW.

"Oh no." said Xhiva. "I would never cheat on my girlfriend!"

"Then how come you're alone with a woman?" Helen asked.

"You misunderstand." said Xhiva, putting his hands on her shoulders, calming her down. "Helen, meet my sister, Sagi-Weilan."

Helen spluttered. "You-your sister?! You and Xandou never told me you had a sister!"

"Clearly we're getting off the wrong foot." said Sagi-Weilan. "Xhiva, you also told me you never had a girlfriend!

"You know what?" Helen asked shaking the Chinese woman's hand. "Let's start over. Hi, I'm Helen. Helen Carter, I know your brother, Xandou."

"Why?" SW said, shaking the Fire Omega's hand. "You his girlfriend too?"

"Ding ding!" Helen said. "Right o!"

"Yes!" SW exclaimed hugging Xhiva. "My little merbrothers are now mermen!"

"SW!" Xhiva groaned.

"So you're their sister?" Helen asked, smiling. "How old are you?"

"22." replied the elder TIraken.

"What brings you by?" Helen asked.

"My brothers." said Sagi-Weilan.

"Oh wait, wait." said Helen straightening up. " **You're** that bitch who was literally possessing people to pull of amateur crimes!"

"How else was I supposed get your attention?" SW shrugged innocently.

"You could have just called." said Helen. "Instead of framing innocent people?"

"She's fiesty." said Sagi-Weilan. "It's kind of hot."

"Why did you try to get caught?" Xhiva asked.

"It's in your little Sirens Creed code." said Sagi-Weilan, earning shocked faces from everyone around her.

"Unbelievable." said Xandou who popped out of nowhere.

"Oh Jesus!" Helen exclaimed, her hair aflame for a bit.

"You really need to find some way to appear without raising my blood pressure!" Xhiva exclaimed.

"Hey Xan." Helen swam over to her boyfriend and they kissed.

"How do you know who we are?" Xandou demanded his sister.

"Not the fiesty chick." She said. "Just you two. First it was the colors of your suits, which I know are your favorites and then it was your names. I mean, if you're gonna have a secret identity, don't use something that references your powers. And don't worry, I won't tell a soul."

"What were we supposed to call ourselves?" Xandou asked.

"I don't know." said SW. "Something that doesn't scream what exactly describes you. Not smart to the people you know. Besides, it takes one to know one right?"

"You're not a hero." said Xandou. "You're a Tiraken."

"So are you." SW countered.

"Except I've woken up and seen through the lies we were raised in." Xandou said.

Sagi-Weilan's eyes filled to their complete black. "You don't know the first thing about what it's like to live a lie."

"OK ENOUGH!" Xhiva yelled, his eyes glowing red. "Now, how about we start over and maybe try to calm down?"

"Maybe we can go somewhere else." said Helen.

"That's it!" Xhiva exclaimed excited. "The party we're throwing tonight! You could come!"

"She hardly knows Thalie!" Xandou exclaimed. "She can't just show up!"

Helen cringed. "I'm gonna have to agree with this one. Sagi-Weilan, you don't seem so bad, but my besties come first and my instincts are not so sure about you being around them just yet."

"First of all, I understand completely" said Sagi-Weilan. "To be honest, I don't wanna make anyone uncomfortable. I can wait. Second, call me SW because my name is starting to become a mouthful, like in Shanghai."

"Oh like we've waited and you never came back?" Xandou countered. "And is that where you've been? Shanghai?"

"Ok Xandou." Helen said, grabbing the merman's arm. "Let's go."

The couple swam for some miles before they surfaced and the minute they did, CRACK! Helen had slapped Xandou in the face.

"What the hell was that for?" Xandou exclaimed, rubbing the redness of his cheek.

"What the hell is your problem?" Helen asked, seething in rage. "Why are you acting like a grade A D-bag to her? She's your sister! Who you probably haven't seen in forever!"

"And that's the problem." said Xandou. "She comes back, expecting everyone to sing Kumbaya because she's back. And I don't buy her act."

"Look I don't trust her either but at least I'm willing to give her a chance." said Helen. "Why can't you do the same for her?"

"Because I know for a fact, that she's hiding something." said Xandou. "Mark my words, SW Tiraken, **always lies**."

"And you have the right to assume that because?" Helen trailed off.

"It's what she does best." said Xandou. "Her name means 'Deceiving Flower' for a reason!"

"Just because it's in her name and in the past doesn't mean you can just shun her!" Helen said. "After all, all she wants is to be reunited with her only sane family members. The least you can do is follow Xhiva's example and spend at least 10 minutes with her."

"But Helen.."

"I'm serious!" She exclaimed. "Grow up, open your eyes past your pride and give her at least one chance!" She leaned in and kissed him on the lips, which he returned. "Like I did with you. Remember, you were a bad guy then you realized that family comes first. Take that in heart."

Xandou groaned. "Alright, alright. But if I see any funny business from her, I'm running her back to Shanghai."

"Fair enough." said Helen.

"And when did you get so smart?" Xandou asked, blushing a little, being proud of his girlfriend.

"Well I see myself in you." said Helen, smiling. "And I try to make the most of it."

"Well I see myself in you." said Xandou, wiggling his eyebrows. "And **really** inside you."

Helen pushed her boyfriend back. "You dog!" She laughed and then ran into the water with Xandou yelling,

"I'm just kidding!"

Meanwhile, Zac, Evie, Cam and Carly were in the room that was once Blair's when she used to live with the Blakeley's. A lot of the furniture had been sold or moved to the Santos Household, but the blue wallpaper stayed on and the family had no idea what to do with the room. It had been considered being used as a storage, it had been considered as a guest bedroom, but it seemed like with every plan that came along, it just went to waste.

"Should we put up the Statue of Liberty here?" Zac asked his friends, gesturing to the window.

"I don't know." said Evie. "I wish David could be here."

"He's managing the cafe." said Carly grimly. "Joe's got him grilled today."

"I hate that guy." said Cam, putting up some USA tourist merchandise.

"Don't we all?" Evie asked sarcastically.

"It's weird to see this decorated with city stuff you know?" Zac asked.

"How do you mean?" Carly asked.

"You know, soon as we brought her back from New York, this whole room became enveloped with UFO's, aliens, and all that outer space crap." said Zac.

"Oh yeah!" Evie exclaimed. "Then you yourself Zac, got in an alien phase. It was kind of, oh what's the word? Adorkable!"

"Actually that would be my fault." Cam said, rubbing his neck.

"What do you mean?" Zac asked.

The blonde human laughed sheepishly. "When you first brought Blair back, I may have told her 'Who knows? You might be from Krypton... as a joke."

The girls gaped at him while Zac face palmed. "Cameron Mitchell." Zac said. "Do you mean to tell me that you told a 6 year old, gullible, naive adopted child that she might be an alien, because you thought it was funny?"

"Was that wrong?" Cam asked.

This time, the girls did actually groan.

"You're kidding." Carly said while trying to restrain her eyes from changing out of irritation. "Right?"

"I didn't think she was gonna take it seriously." said Cam.

"It's no wonder then she and then Zac wouldn't shut up about aliens for weeks!" said Carly.

"Cam, you are such a lovable dumbass." said Evie, rolling her green eyes, tapping her left metal prosthetic foot impatiently.

Cam looked around, his face red as a tomato. "What?"

Zac sighed, placing his arm on his best friend's shoulder. "You have a lot to learn, my friend."

Meanwhile, after a brief adjustment period, Xhiva, with Sagi-Weilan walked down the Ocean Cafe boardwalk, with the Chinese mermaid wearing a red dress with white polka dots and Xhiva wearing a green button up shirt with his sleeves rolled up, black pants and sneakers.

"I'm sorry about that." said Xhiva. "You know Xandou, he can be impatient."

"He's a speedster." said SW. "Of course he's gonna be impatient. And it's ok. To be honest, I wasn't expecting everyone to trust me. I mean who's gonna trust a Tiraken?"

Xhiva frowned. "A fair couple mind you."

"Pirārttaṉaikkāka colla." **(And do pray tell.)** SW said in Tamil. "Nīṅkaḷ eppaṭi cariyāka maṟṟum Xandou intaḷavukku piracitti peṟṟatu?" **(How exactly did you and Xandou become so popular?)**

Xhiva smirked a little. "Atu vali oru pakka oru nīṇṭa, nīṇṭa katai." **(It's a long, long story with a side of painful.)**

"Say, you did mention it was someone's birthday today." said SW, switching back to English. "Whose is it?"

"It's a friend of ours." said Xhiva. "Thalie."

"I hope she has a fantastic birthday." said SW. "From what I hear, she sounds really nice."

"Oh she is." said Xhiva in admiration. "She's confident, strong, funny, brave, pretty, and kind. But don't let that fool you. She can really kick ass."

"Sounds like a great big sister." said SW.

The brown skinned teenager laughed. "She is. The most unique part of her? She's a half blood."

"Your friend is a half blood?" SW asked in wonder with Xhiva smiling. "This I have to see."

She went inside the cafe to find said mermaid/human hybrid with some of her best friends, Rose and Kimi.

"Everyone." said Xhiva. "Meet Sagi-Weilan, my sister. SW, this is Rose Gomez." He pointed to the blonde Latina. "Kimi Hamasaki." He pointed to the Japanese girl. "And Thalie." The red haired girl waved.

Sagi-Weilan eyed them carefully and sat down. "So, you're the half blood." She said to Thalie. "Huh!"

"What?" Thalie asked.

"Nothing it's just, I thought you'd be older." said SW.

"I'm 16." said Thalie. "I'm not that young."

"You'd be surprised." SW retorted.

"Oh Thank God Joe's gone." said David, coming up to them. "So, you guys ready to order?"

"David, meet Xhiva and Xandou's sister." said Rose.

David turned to the Chinese woman. "Their sister? Oh I'm David, David Sullivan. It's very nice to meet you." They shook hands. "So I'm guessing you're another ummm…" He made a swimming motion with his hands.

SW looked confused. "Is that some kind of secret code?"

"Yeah." said Xhiva. "Sagi-Weilan is a mermaid."

"Is there anybody here who doesn't know about mermaids?" SW asked.

At Mako Island, about an hour after Ondina had dismissed her class, she had gone for a swim. Even though she was enjoying the dusky setting of the ocean with the sea animals to keep her company, she couldn't stop thinking about what she had just done.

With the help of her best friend, she tracked down the 19 year old merman, and called the secret dates off. Erik, understanding completely, almost immediately agreed with her and they parted on awkward terms.

Ondina knew she did the right thing. _But why do I feel so bad?_ She thought. _It's not like I like him that much...do I?_

Coincidentally, or by fate, Crown Prince in training Erik Consorzio was having similar thoughts. He was surprised that Ondina had blown their secret dating off but he understood. Even if it hurt him. And yet he was still embarrassed of his actions. They had gone too far, because he had given into his damned merman instincts and coaxed Ondina into doing the same. He felt guilty, taking advantage of her like that, using her like that and seeing that she liked it. But he had to give her space. He had done enough. He had to focus on his mission, maintaining balance in his new clan and getting ready for leading his nation.

But he couldn't help but wonder, what would happen to Ondina? Surely nothing could happen right? It was one time right?

Back at the cafe, the girls who were there were just talking.

"So I'm guessing from your accent that you're not from around here?" SW asked.

"I'm from America." said Thalie. "But I've been here since I was very young."

"You were born in America?" SW asked.

"Yeah." Thalie replied. "Flordia. I used to come here when I was a baby, then there was this funny little plane crash." Her voice turned darker at the mention of the plane crash from 12 years prior.

"Oh I'm so sorry." SW said comfortingly.

"Thanks." said Thalie.

"I have to say girls." said SW. "Beautiful hair highlights. Did you get them at a good salon?"

"Nope." said Thalie. "We're Omegas." Rose made an imitation of a trumpet which got the table to laugh at her antics.

"Omegas?" SW asked. "And three of them here! This is a sight to see indeed!"

"Hey guys." said Kimi. "Shouldn't we be going? It's almost time for our sleepover."

"Sorry guys." said Thalie getting up. "It's just.."

"No." said SW. "It's ok. I totally understand, it's your birthday, be free!"

As the girls left Xhiva asked his sister, "Hey sis, can I ask you something?"

SW frowned. "Yes."

"Why do you have black eyes?" He asked, causing his sister to curl her fist. "You didn't before and we don't." He flashed his glowing red eyes at his sister.

"I turned 19." said SW simply as her eyes turned black.

The night had set for Thalie and her friends to arrive at the Blakeley Bungalow. They entered through the front door so they could surprise their friend. But what she found in the house at the door was a slightly terrified Dr. Robert Blakely.

"Girls, I strongly advise not to go in there." He said a little loudly over the arguing heard in the house by two feminine voices. "It's ugly in there."

"What's going on?" Helen asked.

"I'd...rather not say." Rob cringed.

"Verdammit, she's mine!" Rita's voice shouted.

"Are those my moms?" Thalie exclaimed.

Thalie ran inside to find both of her mothers arguing.

"Who do you think you are?" Lauren shouted. "Just get out!"

"Who do you think you are?" Rita said. "To try to get my daughter?"

"She's my daughter!" Lauren shouted.

"She's my baby!" Rita exclaimed.

"ENOUGH!" Thalie exclaimed, the doors opening because of her magic. "Look at you both! This is a day where I wanted both of my families and you're acting like children! When you're ready to act your age, I'll be in my room!"

Thalie ran upstairs to her old room to see that it had been decorated into a replica of New York. It was endearing to her, reminding her of her home and birthplace.

"Thalie?" Evie's voice sounded, entering the room with the rest of the Omega Mermaids. "What's up?"

"My mothers are treating me as if I'm a toy to be fought over!" Thalie exclaimed.

"I'm sure this family crisis will be over." said Evie. "But with your moving out of the house, changing your name, you had to know this was coming."

"And that's why I spent nearly most of the weekends here!" Thalie exclaimed. "To make sure that never happens."

"But what about your secret?" Evie asked.

"Secret?" Lauren's voice sounded, the door opening to reveal a shocked Lauren Blakeley.

"Lauren?" Thalie's voice was shaking.

"You've been keeping secrets?" Lauren asked, her tone full of betrayal.

"Look, it's not what you-"

"I'll be downstairs." said Lauren.

"No!" Thalie exclaimed. "Let me explain!"

SLAM! The door shut closed. Thalie turned around, and her eyes started glowing their deep blue. Whenever an Omega or Delta was mad or using extraneous use of their power, their eyes glowed their respective colors.

"You know, I warned you last year that if you got in anybody's business I would teach you a lesson." said Thalie, her hands starting to turn into water. "AHHH!"

She lunged but Helen, arms and head in flame (But not hand) held her down. "ENOUGH! STOP! Listen, I know from experience that people can get to you but you can't get to them like that. We knew this day was coming, that you were gonna have to tell your foster parents that you're a mermaid. Thanks to **somebody** , it's sooner."

"Evie what the hell!" Kimi exclaimed. "We weren't gonna tell them until after we died!"

"Well how were you gonna do that?" Evie asked.

"I don't know." said Rose. "Seance, time machine, we hadn't worked out the details!"

Thalie ran down, to find Rob and Lauren, sitting in the sofa, with Lauren drinking a cup of tea.

"Mom, Dad." Thalie said out loud, with a water ball floating in her hand. "I need to tell you something. Or better yet, show you something."

"What in the world?" Rob asked. Lauren just sat there gaping like a fish.

"Thalassa." Rita said, magically taking the ball from her hands. "I think you're doing the right thing. Let's show them together." She duplicated the ball and flicked her spalshing herself and Thalie. 10 seconds later, both were lying on the floor, showing their true forms to the humans and Zac with Cam.

After drying off, the Santos Family sat down.

"How is this even possible?" Lauren asked.

"Why don't we start at the beginning?" Thalie asked.

And so she did, with the help of her mother and her friends who were behind the couch, Thalie started from her birth to the last few months. She was careful to leave out several names in particular to provide protection but she told them most of everything, even telling them her secret identidy as Ocean Girl.

By the time she finished, both of her parents looked contempt. Shocked but contempt.

"So you're half mermaid, half human." said Rob.

"Who is a survivor of so many losses." said Lauren.

"And yet she still fights." said Rob.

"Wait." said Thalie. "You're not mad at me?"

"Oh we're mad." said Lauren. "We're angry, frustrated, worried of course, and yet could not be more proud. Right Rob?"

"Exactly." said Rob. "We've suspected that there was something magical about you. We just didn't know what it was, or we weren't willing to believe."

"We're still in shock." said Lauren. "I mean, it's mermaids! But I guess I was jealous."

"Why?" Thalie asked.

"Because from when you moved out." Lauren replied. "Changing your name and all that jazz, I felt disposed, I felt abandoned."

"Like all of your work had been for nothing?" Thalie asked, with her foster mother nodding. Thalie sighed deeply. "That may be my fault."

"Thalassa, don't start." said Rob but was cut off.

"I admit, I have been spending time with my birth mother." said Thalie. "But that doesn't mean I had forgotten you already. So yes, I moved in with my birth mother to find out more about my heritage, but if there's one thing you both have taught me, is that I will always have a home and that family is what matters most of all."

"Oh." Rob and Lauren hugged their daughter. "So yes, I wanted to find out about more about myself, but the only thing I want in life is a great family. And you guys are the best parents in the whole world. Even you, Rita. As they say, two mothers are better than one. Guys, there is no doubt in my mind that you're the set of parents I was meant to have."

"I'm sure your birth father would be proud." said Rob. "As am I."

"Look at you." said Lauren. "Thalie Santos, the girl who grew up too fast."

"Uh that's Thalie Santos-Blakeley." Thalie smiled.

"Can I join?" Zac's voice sounded.

"Come here big brother." Thalie said. With the Blakeleys hugging with Rita, Lauren turned to Rita and apologized then turned to Helen, Kimi and Rose and said, "Girls, I have one thing to say, in keeping this secret too. Thank you."

"Alright!" Rose exclaimed. "Let's get this party started!"

They took Thalie outside to the backyard to see that it had been decorated entirely in blue, with oceanic themes, a dancefloor installed and a large cake.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone outside yelled. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Everyone included, friends from the cafe, Thalie's Dancing Starlights team/class, most of the junior and sophomore classes, the rest of the Sirens Creed, and a few kids from upper and lower classes.

"Thalassa?" Zac asked. "Are you crying?"

"This is…" Thalie sobbed joyfully. "This is the best thing ever! You guys are the best!"

"Let's start this party!" Diablo yelled, popping a soda bottle like it was champange.

Within hours, life at the Bungalow was buzzing with joyus life. The floors was overused with dancing, lights from floorlights and a disco ball illuminated the night, the air was filled with the sound of music, drinks were drunk, and the cake was plowed through like termites through wood. Friends chatted here and their, certain couples kissed (cough Raiden and Thalassa) and the night couldn't have been better.

The New York getup in Thalie's old room was a treat to remind her of her old home, which of course Thalie loved dearly.

"How did you guys manage this?" Zoe asked, holding a drink.

"There's a closet full of party supplies at the ready." Diablo replied proudly.

"Plus I've got a cake guy on speed dial." Cam admitted. "I can have cake in my mouth in about 15 minutes flat, day or night."

"This is the best party ever." said Thalie, sitting at the jetty with Zac.

"And to think." Zac said, eating some pizza. "All of this started because you stole my ice cream in Central!"

"I beg to differ." said Thalie. "As I remember, it was **you** who stole my ice cream."

"No, it was you!" said Zac.

"No, you did." Thalie retorted.

The two siblings squabbled as the party continued. Dr. Blakeley pulled Raiden aside and asked, "So you like her?" They looked at the redhaired teenager.

"Totally!" Raiden exclaimed.

"Just so you know, I know how to perform a lobotomy." Dr. Blakeley said darkly.

Raiden chuckled lightly and said, "I don't know what that means but I'm kind of scared of it."

When the party ended, Thalie, being who she was, stayed behind to help clean up.

"You didn't have to clean up at your own birthday party." said Carly.

"It's my Sweet 16." said Thalie, sweeping up. "I help out."

"Thalie Santos." said Helen. "Always trying to save the world."

"Runs in the family." said Thalie, prompting laughter.

"Thalassa?" Lauren pulled her aside. "Are there others like you?"

"Yes." said Thalassa. "But an identity, is a person's most precious treasure. It utilizes them, it makes people who they are, it protects them, and sometimes it's literally what a person's got. But it also put people in danger. Which why I can't tell you who they are. Yes, I told you I'm one of the vigilantees and what I am, along with Kimi, Rose, and Helen, because we trust you and Dad enough to keep our secret. But us four will be the only ones you know about for now. An persona can sometimes be a weapon and can be used against you. But that is because we trust you to guard our secret so we can defend you. Our secret is not to be taken lightly. If word were to get out that we are the Sirens Creed, our enemies will come knocking at your door and it's not just the police."

"But surely we can find a solution." said Lauren.

"It's not that easy Mom." said Thalie, taking her hand and looking at her straight in the eye. "Remember Veridia, and Slade? Those people are just two of many evils out there in the world. People like them, more or less will not exercise restraint because you're a civillian. And they won't hold back because my team consists of children. **They will kill you** if they get the chance. Do not ever give them that chance."

"Thalassa." said Lauren. "Are you sure you can't just find another way to help the city? What if you get hurt?"

"I will try to make sure the others don't get hurt, but I have no problem risking my own life." said Thalie truthfully. "All I'm asking for you is to be strong. You can start by keeping this secret, by not asking or telling anybody about the supernatural world. By doing that, you Lauren Blakeley are doing the ocean a great deal of gratitude. That's all we ever ask of you, is your silence."

The Australian-American teenager hugged her foster mother, who was in shock at the maturity this teenager had shown. It was like she was talking with a 30 year old person.

"Hey Thalie!" Kimi yelled. "Race you to Mako!"

"You're on!" Thalie yelled.

"Last one's a rotten codfish!" Rose yelled, on the jetty.

"Oh please you're already there!" Helen retorted.

The girls leaped over the jetty into the canal in four graceful leaps. They slapped their tails and raced over to Mako Island.

Lauren followed the girls but stopped at the jetty, looked into the canal and smiled sadly. She said with pride and a few tears spilling,

"You really are The Girl Who Grew Up Too Fast."

**RESTORATION**

Carly walked home on the streets, hoping to get some sleep when suddenly a voice said, "Sweet Dreams." A sweet smelling scent overcame her and she knew no more.

She woke up to a burning sensation on her arms, and woke up to find herself tied to a post with a strange flower on her arm. She tried breaking free, but it seemed that this flower seemed to burn her. She tried summoning her animalistic strength but it seemed to diminish the minute it tried to surface, even with her shifting.

"Don't bother sweetheart." A voice sounded. Carly looked up to see a man in his 20's with raven hair and blue eyes, examining his claws, lengthened from his fingers. "That right there? That's wolfsbane. Same stuff Clawdeen used to knock you out." He pointed to the brunette were-coyote who smiled with fangs showing.

"Now." said a dark skinned were-panther named Jason Lowell. "We've given you a week and still you haven't turned yourself in or our scout. Did your fellow wereshifter tell you? Diabel? Diavel?"

"It's Diablo." said Carly.

"Oh so you can talk." said Yiva Zeigler, a Russian werewolf. "Good. Because we're gonna make you talk."

Were-dingo, Dimitri Valko stepped out, his body shifted, replicating Carly's except he had white fur for skin, pointed elf ears on his human ones and glowing gold eyes. He growled loudly at her, showing her his large fangs.

"Where is Louis Garou?" He asked dangerously low. "We know you either have him or you've killed him."

Carly Morgan had never been so scared in her life, while she was tied up and at the mercy of a circle of dangerous were-shfiters who knew exactly what they were doing as they growled at her, sharpened their claws and literally bared their fangs.


	5. Preggers

"Where is Louis Garou?" Dimitri Valko demanded over the tied up Carly who was surrounded by other wereshifters.

"Who is that?" Carly asked, resulting in a blow to the face, with Carly spitting out blood.

"Let's try this again." Alex Lycus growled, his eyes glowing golden yellow. "What have you done with our scout?!"

"I didn't do anything!" Carly exclaimed, tugging at her, ropes, her heart escalating as she prayed for her life.

18 year old Max Kani **(AN: That's pronounced Kay-nie)** slashed Carly's stomach in a flash, which led to the were-cougar to cry in pain. "You're lying!"

"I'm not!" Carly pleaded. "Please!"

"Oh don't try to beg for your life." Clawdeen said. "That's worked on us more than you can think. And don't even think about changing your heartbeat."

"What?" Carly asked confused. "Why would I change my heartbeat?"

That made all of the wereshifters stop and look at her curiously. "Seriously?" Jason Lowell asked. "You have no idea what your heartbeat means to a wereshifter?"

"Guys lay off her." said Ylva Ziegler, coming over to her. She was a woman, in her late teens, with platinum blonde hair, milk white skin and bright blue eyes. "Can't you smell her fear? That's why her heartbeats rising."

"Wait." said Carly. "We can smell emotions?"

"YES!" Alex shouted. "Dumbass."

"Wait a minute." Jason said, leaning down and sniffing her.

"Whatcha doing?" Carly asked, feeling a little violated.

"I can smell the animal inside you but….Carly was it?" The werecougar nodded. "Were you born or bitten?"

"I was bitten." Carly replied.

Everyone but Carly let out an "Oh!"

"That explains a few things." said Dimitri. "The night we almost caught you, that was your first full moon wasn't it?"

Carly nodded.

"It makes sense." said Max. "Carly was bitten, she must have come in contact with Louis at some point, then the full moon came and she was loose until her packmate, that fish smelling werewolf with the orange eyes, found her and managed to calm her down. This one didn't hurt Louis, she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Then who's your alpha?" Alex asked. "Unless you don't know who he is."

"I don't have an alpha." said Carly.

"That's impossible." said Clawdeen. "If you didn't have an alpha, your eyes would be grey, not gold like ours. Diavel though, he's gotta have a pack."

"Ok first of all, it's Diablo and he's my friend." said Carly. "Second if you're talking about the werewolf that bit me, it would be your scout."

"I'm sorry what?" Ylva asked, her previous kind tone now replaced with confusion.

"It was your scout." said Carly. "He's the one who bit and turned me."

The Tauna Pack wereshifters looked at her annoyed. "If you're trying to pull our fur, it's not funny."

"I'm not trying to screw with you." said Carly. "I'm telling the truth. I was coming home from a late shift at work, I was going home when I heard some growls then groans of pain. I walked into an alley to see what was going on and your scout, Louis was there and said that he needed to get back to the pack. The next thing I knew, he grabs me, wolfed out and bites my leg. And then the next day, I wake up different, I run faster, I'm stronger and then I find out I'm a werecougar."

"That's a very entertaining story." said Jason. "But not good enough to convince us."

"Wait." said Ylva. "I heard her heartbeat the whole time. If she's new to this, and she doesn't know how to control her heartbeat, she's telling the truth."

"It's still impossible." said Clawdeen. "Only an alpha can turn a human. Even if did Louis did turn her, she would be an Omega, not a Beta."

"There's only one way to resolve this." said Dimitri, turning to look at Carly. "Sorry sister, but you're gonna have to come with us."

"What?" Carly asked. "Why?"

"Let me talk to her." said Ylva, leaning down. "It seems this matter is out of our hands Carly. You're gonna have to talk to the Alpha."

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Carly pleaded. "I swear to God! Let me go, please!"

"Carly, Carly." Ylva said, shushing the crying girl cupping her cheeks. "It's ok. Look, our Luna may ask you some questions. As long as you tell the truth, you'll be fine."

"When am I going?" Carly asked, feeling relieved that Ylva was then untying her wolfsbane rope.

"You have to come with us now." said Dimitri. "We'll let you use your phone. But tell whoever you call, to not call the police, just tell them you're going on vacation or something."

"Dimitri's right." said Alex. "We can't have humans interfeering. And we especially can't have the fish people who live here."

Carly wanted to tell them that she knew the clan and it's royal family, but her instincts warned her against it, telling her that it could put her pack in danger.

"There." said Ylva removing her hands from the Wolfsbane. "It'll take a while for you to recover, but you'll have enough strength to make a short call."

"What happens if I refuse to go with you at all?" Carly asked.

"Then picture this." said Clawdeen, unleashing her claws, fangs and her glowing eyes. "You go home one sunny afternoon, and you smell blood everywhere in your house, then you find your mom, your brother lying on the floor," She made a small roar, slashing her claws. "Dead as a doornail."

Carly sighed and nodded grimly, knowing that she didn't have a choice.

Evie rolled in bed as her phone kept ringing and buzzing. Rolling her eyes and groaning, she reached with her arm to the ringing phone and answered it, not even bothering to see who it was.

"Hello?" She said groggily in the phone.

" _Evie_." Carly's voice sounded through the phone. " _It's me. I don't have much time_."

"Carly?" Evie replied, now sitting straight and fisting her bedsheets out of anxiety. "Are you ok? Where are you?"

" _Something's come up_."

"What something?" Evie asked. "Is it family?"

" _Evie, I-I-I'm not going to be at home for a while._ " said Carly.

"Don't move." said Evie, getting up, and putting on some clothes. "I'm coming to get you, can you tell me where you are?"

" _No Evie, you can't!_ "

"And why not?" Evie demanded.

" _Look, just trust me._ " said Carly. " _And don't call the cops. Please, it'll put you guys in danger if you do._ "

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Evie asked. "Carly, it sounds like you're getting kidnapped!"

" _That's because I am and I'm not._ " Carly chuckled. " _What you can do, is tell Liam and my mum that I love them. And don't tell the others, especially Cam._ "

" _Time's up."_ a male voice spoke loudly in the phone.

"Carly who's-"

"I _have to go._ "

The phone shut off leaving behind no trace of Carly's voice again. Everybody gets scared in their lifetime in most points. But for Evie, there were a few times when Evie was absolutely terrified. The first time when her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer, the second in when her father almost overdosed, the third of when Carly's father started drinking, the fourth of when her boyfriend apparently started seeing another girl behind her back, the fifth of when she became a mermaid. But the sixth was the most dreadful time for her, during the Battle for Mako when she was fighting a few mermaids and woke up a few weeks later to discover that her left foot had to be amputated and replaced with a prosthetic.

At the moment that she was in now, in her room, unsure of what to do, Evie had an idea. She couldn't call the police, nor tell her friends, but there was a group of people who could maybe help rescue her now apparently missing best friend.

"Hey!" Alex barked, almost literally, which sparked Carly out of her stupor. "Give me the phone."

Shaking in terror, the blonde Australian teen gave the werewolf her cell phone, only to have it crushed with his bare hands!

Carly meant to yell out "Hey!" But instead a cat-like yowl/hiss escaped her mouth as her fangs flashed and her eyes turned cat-like. She quickly realized this and covered her mouth and looked at her hands to see her claws partially out. Breathing in and breathing out, she started counting backwards from 10 in her head until she felt relieved of her anger.

"You really have no idea how to control your mnyama do you?" Max asked.

Carly frowned at the strange word. "My what?"

"Your mnyama." said Ylva. "It means your spirit. The shape you take."

"Yeah you definitely need help." said Clawdeen.

"I thought you were gonna take me." said Carly.

"Oh we are." said Jason. "If you're found innocent, we'll help you, if not, we'll just dump half of your body in the ocean and the other on the streets."

"WHAT?!" Carly screeched before being knocked out by a blow to the head from Dimitri. The other were-shifters gave a look at the were-dingo.

"What?" He asked nonchalantly. "She wouldn't shut up."

The next morning though, in the Ocean Cafe before school, Zac had taken notice of something a little strange in his girlfriend's behavior. She had been somewhat distant, but played it off as not getting enough sleep. But when asked about Carly's whereabouts, Evie was a little too quick to answer, saying that she had to go see an old friend of her's. The story was convincing but Zac had doubts and was beginning to get worried. His thoughts were broken when he saw Ondina Durant-Marino run into the bathroom again. One of his other friends, Helen Carter ran in and assisted the blonde mermaid out who was holding her mouth.

"What is up with you today?" Zac asked.

"Oh plaiting seaweed." Ondina said bitterly. "What do you think I'm doing?"

"Dinie, that's the third time today you've taken a dump!" Helen said, sitting Ondina down.

"Actually the seventh." Ondina said, taking a drink of water.

"You've puked seven times today?" Zac asked.

"Yes." said Ondina. "Unfortunately yes. I woke up and puked my guts out."

"What is this?" Cam asked. "Mermaid sickness?"

"Maybe I ate something bad." said Ondina.

"Like the bizarre breakfast you ordered?" Kimi asked.

"Seriously Ondina." said Rose. "I'm all for new possibilities, but I'm pretty sure no one has a breakfast of tuna, salmon, and ice cream."

"For real?" Evie asked.

"Hey Ondina." said Thalie, feeling her forehead. "You don't feel hot. Maybe this is a…." She looked around to see if anyone was listening and lowered her voice in a whisper. "Mermaid problem. Maybe you should go see a doctor."

"Maybe." said Ondina.

"Well I hope you feel well Ondina." said David, getting his bag. "But guys, we have to go, we're almost late for school."

The Mako Gang with half of the Sirens Creed, waked towards Suncoast High, to start their school day off.

Running to class, Raiden dove into his English class as the final bell rang. He silently thanked God that his teacher Mr. Leonhart, didn't notice him.

"Alright class." he said after writing the word "Shakespeare" on the board. "Let's start with a review. Who can tell me, what were the names of the two feuding families of Romeo and Juliet?"

Some students raised their hands while some just looked clueless. "Here's a hint." Helen whispered to Thalie. "Big Willie's talking about you and Lightning Butt in this."

Thalie's face turned almost as red as her hair and sank so low, she wished that she could be swallowed by the floor.

The Black British Fire Omega smiled smugly, knowing that she had won this round.

"I think it was the Montagues and the Capillaries." said Diablo.

Most of the class laughed, even with Mr. Leonhart cracking a smile.

"I think it was the Montagues and the Capulets." said Raiden.

"Correct." said Mr. Leonhart.

"Of course you get it right, Romeo!" a boy yelled out. "Looking to impress your girlfriend?"

"Funny you say that when you never seem to have one, Gabe!" Raiden retorted. "Or are you waiting for her to come to you because you're too chicken to man up?"

The class went "OOOOH!" at Raiden's remark while the afro boy went dark in the ears.

"You want some ice for that burn?" Helen asked.

"Alright enough!" said Mr. Leonhart. "We are getting on to our lesson, and that is that!"

As the class progressed, Rose had told the people in her row to pass down a note to one Kimi Hamasaki.

_Hey Kimi, have you seen Carly? I feel a change in the wind, a bad one. Like something bad's gonna happen. I don't know what but I feel the winds churning, like a stomach ache. A really bad stomach ache._

While that happened, at Guardia Island, Ondina was waiting for her turn with one of the healers. A woman was swimming by her when she smiled at her.

"You've got that glow young miss." said the mermaid. "Bet it's gonna be a beautiful girl or a healthy boy."

"What?" Ondina asked, completely confused.

"Miss Durant-Marino?" A healer's apprentice called out. Ondina swam behind the rock where she looked at a merman, Oritel Seaglass.

"Hello." said the merman. "I'm Healer Seaglass."

"Ondina." She said, shaking his hand, looking over and seeing a young boy who must have been his apprentice mix some potions

"You said you were sick?" The healer asked. "How many times have you puked?"

"About seven." said Ondina.

"Ok." said the healer. "Any other strange behaviors or symptoms?"

"I've had the craziest food cravings." said Ondina. "And I've gotten really cranky once today."

"Hmmm." said the Healer. "Ondina, how old are you?"

"I turn 17 in June." the Portuguese-Australian mermaid replied.

"Have you had any sexual activities?" Healer Seaglass asked.

"Um…" Ondina's breathing began to pick up rapidly as she knew the answer but didn't have the guts to even believe it was possible. "A couple of weeks ago."

"Uh, Ondina." said the healer. "You might wanna hold onto something." Ondina shook her head. _Whatever he has to say, I'm treading._ "The thing is Ondina...I don't really quite know how to put this. You're not sick. You're with child."

It was as if someone had put the thickest blanket over Ondina's ears. The only things she could hear were her breathing and rapid heart rate. The healer's talking couldn't get past her ears. _Pregnant?_ Ondina thoughts swirled in her mind. _I'm...pregnant. I'm having a child grow inside me!_

"Miss Durant-Marino?" The Healer's voice broke her out of her trance. "Yes, you are having a child growing inside you. But from the looks of things, it's pretty recent."

Ondina blanched. "I said that out loud, didn't I?"

Healer Seaglass chuckled. "Yes you did."

"So who's the babydaddy?" The apprentice asked. "Unless I still don't get that health lecture, there **has** to be a dude involved."

"Ray." Oritel scolded. "We don't ask our patients these kinds of questions."

"It's ok." said Ondina. "But Mr. Seaglass, isn't there anything we can do? Surely there must be something we can do."

"Ondina." said the healer. "Our ability to swim is very linked to our waist and it's functions. For mermen and mermaids alike, it's linked to our pelvic structure and spinal cord. But for mermaids, in order to carry a baby, and swim, is also linked with your ability to swim. Ondina, do you know anything about menstruation?"

"I've heard about it." said Ondina. "My friend Thalie once had a period accident? I believe that's what it's called?"

"Yes." The healer chuckled. "But do you know why mermaids don't menstruate?"

"I never to ask." said Ondina. "The idea of blood coming out of you like that, it just grossed me out."

"It's because our bodies aren't equipped to fertilize." said Healer Seaglass who nodded at his apprentice to leave. "The egg just sits there which makes it good for mermaids because your ovaries are special and when you flourish in puberty, the ovaries create a special coating-"

"Which protects the egg from being damaged by the swimming if a mermaid is pregnant." said Ondina impatiently. "I got the talk from meu mai, but what does this have to do with me getting rid of this baby?"

"I was getting to that." said the healer. "Birth control means exactly what it says. It blocks pregnancy. It works to humans, but to us, it damages the waist muscles, as does abortion. In fact, if you were to ever get an abortion, there are two outcomes, one being that your swimming is crippled. Another being that your swimming is fine, but your ovaries could be infected with diseases."

"Is there any way where I'm healthy and not a swimming cripple?" Ondina asked.

"Ondina." said the Healer sadly. "I'm really sorry, but the birth control, specialized for mermaids, it hasn't been invented yet."

Ondina blinked out a few tears and tried to regain her composure, but ended up breaking down.

"Miss Marino?"

"I just wanna be left alone." said Ondina, swimming off. As she swam at her top speed only one thought stuck to her mind. _I'm 17 and I'm carrying a baby. My friend's baby. What am I gonna do?_

As Evie headed to her next class, she met up with Xhiva, who copied off her call using his technopathic abilities and sent it to the rest of the team. They agreed to meet up later that night when the Creed had made a plan. Cam was also unaware, but Helen had suggested that if Carly was in serious danger, he would know.

In a dark place however, Carly woke up in a dark tent feeling weak. She looked around to see little to no light peering in the tent. And somehow by instinct, her eyes shift to slits and become cat-like, starting to glow in a golden color and then she could see everything. She could stand up, but when she tried to move, she felt stuck by something. She looked down to see on her left leg, a silver chain binding her to the tent pole. She tried to pull it off but each time she tugged onto it, she felt as if her strength was being depleted, layer by layer. Finally, she gave up, panting and feeling exhausted as if she ran a marathon.

"Here." A small voice spoke. Carly looked up to see another set of eyes glowing golden yellow, but they weren't cat like, in fact they looked like a dog's. Carly's enhanced senses told her that this was a small blonde child who smelled like a wolf.

"You're...a wolf girl?" Carly asked the little girl.

"Yes miss." said the little girl handing her a cup of water. "I'm Tabitha." She placed her hand on her forehead and chest and waved it out saying, "Here I stand with you."

"Nice to meet you Tabitha." Carly said shaking her hand. "I'm Carly."

"I know that." said Tabitha. "Mommy said the big kids brought you in here. But don't tell Mommy." Her voice had lowered to a whisper. "I'm not supposed to be here."

"It's ok." said Carly, taking a large gulp of water. "Thank you. Tabitha was it?" The little blonde werewolf nodded. "Do you know what's happening out there?"

The little girl's head turned it was by then that Carly noticed that she was wearing a large dreamcatcher of some sort. "I don't know. There's all these big wolfmen talking. Daddy's sick so Mommy has to take charge. Big brother Gabriel is away with Xavier, doing mushy gross stuff." Carly laughed, having a feeling of what the child was trying to imply. "But the others are talking, there's this big meeting. And you're in trouble."

"Trouble?" Carly asked. "What am I in trouble for?"

"They say that you lied about your Alpha." said Tabitha. "Who is he?"

"Tabitha, I don't have an Alpha." said Carly. "I was bit by Louis, your scout."

"Why did your Alpha attack Louis?" said Tabitha curiously.

"Wherever did you get that pretty necklace?" Carly asked.

"That's an excellent question." A firm voice spoke out. Standing in front of a sliver of light, was a red haired woman who looked to be in her late 20's. She was wearing shorts and a shirt. Yet something about this girl seemed to give Carly the impression that she was not someone to be trifled with. Carly assumed that this was a way of greeting because the woman did the same thing as Tabitha did and said, "Here I stand with you. Tabitha, can you give me back your Mommy's necklace?"

"But Artie!" Tabitha whined.

"Tabitha, outside **now**." said the wereshifter, her eyes glowing a bright gold and her fangs growing.

Tabitha smiled at Carly who in turn, nodded, then ran off outside with the woman stepping out. Soon the woman came back, wearing the necklace, walking over to the chained werecougar with a pair of silver handcuffs.

"What's gonna happen to me?" Carly whispered as the wereshifter fumbled around with the chain holding Carly's leg.

"Well, that depends." said the wereshifter. "If you stick with the truth, and not screw up, you may live. If you do screw up, not my problem. All questions will be answered at the hearing you're going to."

"I'm going on hearing?" Carly asked. "Why?"

"They want to know who your alpha is." said the wereshifter. "The name's Artemis by the way."

"For the 10th time, I don't **have** an alpha." Carly snarled in frustration.

"If you say so." said Artemis. "It's their word against yours. Now, you've got a choice, you can either try to do something and I slip these cuffs on you, or you sit still and the cuffs don't go on you."

"Fine." said Carly. "I won't do anything stupid."

"That's a girl." Artemis gave a toothy-or in this case, fanglike grine. "Normally I wouldn't trust you, but Tabitha seems to like you, which tells that you may not pose a threat."

"You put your trust in a kid?" asked Carly. "No offense."

"Not all the time." Artemis chuckled, fastening on some rope on Carly's hands and feet. "Cubs tend to be innocent minded as they are little ones, but they're also pure of heart, well most of them anyway."

"So when does my hearing begin?"

"In 5 minutes."

Meanwhile in school, Zac had enough of his girlfriend's mysterious attitude. So he took the opportunity to take her into the storage room during lunch.

"Zac what is this?" Evie asked. "What's going on?"

"I was just gonna ask you the same question." said Zac. "Evie, what's going on with you?"

"Nothing." Evie said. "Everything's fine."

But Zac wasn't convinced. "You're doing that thing."

"What thing?" Evie asked confused.

"Whenever you get nervous, you twist your ankle slightly." Zac pointed out. "So come on, out with it." Evie continued to shake her head. "Evie." Zac took her hands and looked her in the eyes, brown meeting green. "It's ok. Whatever it is, it can't be that bad. Please Evie, I'm your boyfriend, which means I'm here for you. So please, let me help you."

At that point, a bottle burst inside Evie as she started crying, and being enveloped by Zac.

"It's ok Evie." Zac said soothingly. "It's ok."

"No." said Evie. "It's not. Carly's been kidnapped."

Zac stopped stroking her hair and looked at her. "What?"

"She's been taken." said Evie.

"Evie why didn't you say something?" Zac asked. "Call the police, send a search party, even get my aunt?"

"I couldn't." said Evie.

"Why?" Zac asked.

"Because she said if we told anyone we'd be in great danger." said Evie. "I'm so sorry, she said she would be back!"

"Is that why you're crying?" Zac asked.

"NO!" Evie shouted. "I'm just..I'm just sick of everything! First you became a merman, then all of these new people, then those vigilantees, then Slade, then my foot and now my best friend is missing and in danger! Just when?! Why can't we live in a normal world? Why can't we just be normal kids?"

"Because sometimes being special sucks." said Zac, hugging the crying teen, but she was faced away from him so he couldn't get a tail. "I know how you feel. I once screamed in frustration, when I became a merman, when I found out who I really was, then finding out I had this destiny to face off my worst nightmare. Here's the thing, life is an endless series of roller coasters. Sometimes there's the fun stuff, then there's the really scary parts in which you just gotta get past."

"When did you get so smart?" Evie asked, smiling.

The Thai/Canadian merman chuckled. "I have an amazing girlfriend. Now what are we gonna do about Carly? Wait, does Cam know?"

"No." said Evie. "I don't wanna worry him."

"I've gotta tell him." said Zac.

"No!" Evie grabbed his arm.

"Cam has a right to know." said Zac. "He's her boyfriend."

"Yeah but I don't wanna worry him." said Evie.

"Evie." said Zac, pulling her in and hugging her. "They mess with one of us they mess with all of us."

Carly was dragged by Artemis' clawed hands to a circle of stones where a bunch of other wereshifters were sitting cross legged. Each of them were looking and whispering among each other about her. Over the corner of her eye, she saw Dimitri and his gang talking amougst themselves

 _Great._ Carly thought. _Another gossip scenario where you didn't do anything. Just like high school._

But suddenly, she felt a commanding presence sweep into the circle like the strongest tornado.

The minute Luna Nevaeh stepped into the circle, all of the other shifters stood straight up with their arms down as if they were hypnotized.

She was a woman who looked to be in her early 30's but still looked so ethereal, with mocha skin, light brown hair that flowed like ocean waves, and bright grey eyes. She also wore a light green dress that added to the aura that gave Carly the feeling that this was a person to be respected. The other wereshifters waved their hands over their heads, then chest then waved it forward saying, "Here I stand with you." in unison.

"Whoa." Carly breathed in amazement.

"Sit." the werecheetah ordered.

"Yes Luna." The others said in perfect unison.

"Read the charges." The Pack Luna ordered.

A lanky werecoyote stumbled in and said clearly, "Carly Morgan, resident of the Gold Coast City of the Queeslandic state of Australia. You stand before this council, accused of denying your Alpha, whilst in the territory of merpeople."

"Any more information added to this?" asked Neveah.

"Yes." said a woman, standing up. "Carly was at first targeted by our Gamma Squad in their search for our pack scout, 12 year old Louis Garou, for apparently assaulting the child. This case was cleared by the squad but Carly continues to deny her Alpha's identidy."

"How do you plead?" The Pack Luna asked Carly.

"Not Guilty." Carly said. "I keep telling you guys, I **have** no Alpha, or whatever that is! It was Louis who bit me, it was Louis who turned me, end of story. I had his scent on me because of the bite!"

"Miss Morgan you have been recently bitten correct?" Luna asked.

"I guess." said Carly.

"Then do you know why Alphas can only turn humans?" asked Luna.

Carly looked around. She wasn't an idiot. She knew that if Diablo's identidy were to be revealved, it could, worst case scenario, start a war between the two species. "No." She said, trying to feel as calm as possible.

"You speak the truth." said Luna. "But I can smell fear coming off you. Rest assured, you're not in trouble."

"Then why am I here?" Carly asked.

"We just want to get your side of the story." said Neveah. "Karina, I leave the floor to you."

A dark skinned woman with her dreadlocks in a bun stood up and walked where the boy had previously stood.

"Describe the events that led you to be a wereshifter." Karina ordered. "Even your full moon experience."

Carly tried to get up but failed to do so because of the ropes binding her feet. Karina pinched her nose impatiently and nodded at Artemis to remove her feet bindings. She walked up to the struggling teenager and progressed in her task.

"Thank you." said Carly. Shaking while standing up, she told everything to the council, with the nth degree of detail, from encountering Louis to the events leading up to now, leaving out the part of merpeople very carefully.

By the time she was finished most of the council was speechless, like they hung on to every word she said.

Finally Neveah spoke up, "Carly, I sense my brothers and sisters of this pack believe you but they are unsure if it is possible."

"No Beta has-" Alex was met with icy cold stares from everyone, reminding him that it was not his place to speak out, and there were dire consequences if he did.

"I think what Lycus was trying to say was that no Beta has ever Turned a human." said a male. "We've never seen it happen and there are no stories or records of this happening. That's why an Alpha can only give others the Bite, it is so they can build packs. And now this girl is telling us that Betas are suddenly evolving to Turn humans? What are we now, Wendigos?"

"Oh come on." Carly muttered. "Isn't there any way to prove what I'm telling you? I wish you could have seen it through my eyes."

This statement brought a hushed silence so powerful, you could hear a pin drop, even on the dirt covered ground. Each of the councilmembers turning to each other, they started talking among themselves. Carly tried to make out some of the words, but there were too many sounds and voices. It wasn't until the Luna delivered a mighty roar that seemed to stop time as everyone literally stopped what they were doing. Even Carly stood straight up and had a feeling that she should bow before the top animal, that she was her superior.

"I believe the girl here has a point." said Luna Nevaeh. "There is only one way to prove this. I beseech you all to allow grant of Memorium Explorum." There was murmur among the council, ignoring Carly's clueless expression.

"Mema-what?" Carly asked.

"Silence!" Nevaeh ordered, with the council falling silent at the order. "I will need to take to a vote. Those in favor of immediate conviction?" Some hands were raised. "Those in favor of this procedure?" More hands were raised than the last. "Let us begin."

Carly was then grabbed by a couple of burly wereshifters who bound and gagged her, while the werefox from before grabbed a boulder the size of a small car, placed it in the middle and placed it in the middle where Carly was put in. She was screaming, thrashing wildly with tears coming out of her, trying to escape but the were-dingos' claws were pinning her down, piercing her arms and legs.

"Get the wolfsbane!" One of them shouted. "Or silver!"

"Yeah, get the silver!" The other shouted.

"No!" Carly heard Artemis shout. "We need her memory stabilized."

Carly tried to ask what the redhaired wereshifter meant, but all she could get out were grunts and cries. And a slap to the face, courtesy of one of the wereshifters who had apprehended her.

"Shut up!" He bellowed.

"Patience, Romulus." She heard the Luna's voice as she approached her. "Carly, what is going to happen is I'm going to use my claws to enter your mind. So I need you to think of that night you were bitten and that night only. Understand?"

Carly in her tight position, could only give a grunt of agreement and nod her head.

"Good." said Luna Nevaeh kindly. "Just relax okay?"

Carly tried to calm down, but could not fight the tears that escaped her as time slowed down for the werecougar. All of a sudden, she felt an icy pain pierce her neck and enter her mind as it was being invaded by a foreign essence. Being that Nevaeh was stronger than her, she was powerless to resist.

After an eternity of feeling intruded, the claws were released from Carly's neck, which left the teen shaking and severely weakened. Just before passing out, Carly's enhanced hearing managed to catch the words, "It's true. Louis is the one who turned her."

After school let out, everyone was going home, but a certain group of 8 teenagers were embarking on some homework, at the Blakley House, aka the last place anyone saw their good friend, Carly.

"Alright guys." said Thalie as they went inside the elevator of Cam's apartment building. "We all know what we have to do."

"Yeah." said Diablo excited, and pushing the button for floor 3. "Pull a CSI."

"Yeah." said Raiden. "Except this shit is real life and not involving the usual detective crap." Kimi gave him an icy look. "I'm just telling as it is."

"Explain to me one more time what we're doing here." Rose whispered. Everyone groaned at the blonde Latina's antics. The Divine Power of Air suited Rosalina Gomez perfectly. She was famous for her free spirited and loose personality that always seemed to brighten up anybody's day, but it was known within the community that the optimistic now 16 year old girl (Rose's birthday is Valentine's Day) had a tendency to have a short attention span from time to time.

"Rosie, we've been over this." said Xhiva. "Kimi's gonna go in and talk to Cam, while the rest of us watch and record this conversation. If his testimony proves sufficient, it'll give us a lead as to unsolving what happened to Carly."

"And then we got ourselves a getaway car! Sweet!" exclaimed Xandou, cracking his knuckles and grinning with anticipation.

"Xandou, like I said." Thalie reminded her friend. "This is not up for discussion. We are **not** stealing anyone's car."

"Sorry." said Xhiva. "Old habits."

"You don't have to apologize for me." Xandou replied angirly."

"Well someone's got to." said Xhiva. "Or did you run those brain cells out of you , like you do everything else?" The boys then started hitting each other until Kimi broke up the fight.

"Ippon!" She shouted. "Guys, we can't get distracted. A girl's life, a **friend's** life is in danger. We can't waste time by quarreling about stupid things."

"She's right." said Helen.

"Uh come again?" Kimi asked playfully.

"I'm not gonna repeat that, Nerdette." Helen scoffed.

The girls smiled while Thalie and Kimi nodded at each other when the elevator stopped and they got out.

"Don't mess this up." Xandou said as everyone but Kimi turned invisible

The Japanese teenager nodded, walking towards the door that said 313. After ringing the doorbell and waiting a few minutes, the door opened to reveal a brunette woman who was Cam's mother.

"Hi Mrs. Mitchell!" Kimi greeted in her usual timid yet polite tone. "You probably have no idea who I am, I'm a friend of your son's."

"Yes." said Cam's mother politely. "I've heard of you. You're Tadashi and Kira's daughter. I'm sorry about...their abduction."

Kimi looked down at her feet but regained her composure. Half a year prior, Kimi's parents' company, Kuroda industries, was raided by The Kanhoji Cult when they used to be in alliance with the Ares Tribe. The top scientists, including Kimi's own parents were kidnapped and used to make a moon pool mutagenic bomb that could turn a normal person into a merperson without the use of a full moon. The entire Gold Coast was planned to be used as a testing ground, but luckily, with the help of Tadashi Hamasaki's friend, Dr. Curtis Chaplin, Kimi herself with Helen, Rose and Thalie, rose to the challenge to destroy the bomb and save the city, (and possibly the world) thus, the Sirens Creed was founded. Kimi and her little brother Haru had to stay at Evie's but luckily, with the unlikely help from one Xandou Tiraken, Kimi had managed to rescue her parents and the family was reunited. After Agni dropped from the grid after the Battle for Mako, he released the rest of the prisoners and everything at the company was back to normal.

"Thank you." said Kimi. "Is Cam here?"

"No." said Mrs. Mitchell. "He's at the cafe I believe? Should I call him?"

"No that's ok." said Kimi. "I just wanted to see him. Thanks though."

"Also." Mrs. Mitchell called out. "Have you seen his girlfriend? Carly?"

"No I haven't." said the 16 year old Ice Omega (Her birthday was on December 21). "But she's just taking care of a few things."

"Alright." said Cam's mother before closing the door.

Rose let out a breath that she didn't even realize she was holding. Thanks to being a crimefighter and a mermaid, she had gotten heaps of practice in the art of deception.

"Well, that went according to plan." said Helen, turning visible as the rest of the merpeople once in the elevator.

"Now what are we gonna do?" Raiden asked.

"Raiden, it's the 21st century." said Helen. "We've got a cell phone, he's got a cell phone. See the connection?"

"Whupped." Diablo coughed.

"Good idea actually." said Thalie. "Xhiva, you call him."

"I'm not calling him." The Indian skinned merman replied. "Why's it always me?"

"Because like Cam, you can make firewalls of distractions." Raiden said. "Let's put it to a vote."

"Xhiva." Everyone replied in unison.

"I demand a recount!" Xhiva said. With Xandou handing his brother his phone, Xhiva pursed his lips and said, "Fine."

In the Durant-Marino household, all but Ondina was gone from the house at work. In the bathroom, she was sitting on the toilet awaiting the dreadful answer from a stick that apparently land people used to really determine if a woman was pregnant. She did find it pointless but she had to see it for herself.

According to the box, two lines meant she wasn't pregnant, but one line and a plus sign meant that she was. And that's exactly what she saw. A line with the fateful plus sign, a sight that was smeared into her head forever. The world slowed down when she dropped the test on the bathroom floor. There was no denying it, Ondina, a still 17 year old girl was pregnant, with her ex-boyfriend's child.

She moved to the corner, unable to stand as she cried a waterfall of tears at the shock and anguish of carrying a child, who was conceived, simply because of sheer teenage hormonal lust that spiraled out of control, with no thoughts of consequences whatsoever.

"How could I have been so STUPID?!" Ondina screamed, banging her head against the wall. "Of course merpeople don't have contraception! 'Sure Erik, What's the worst that can happen?' What am I gonna do?"

She continued to cry, with millions of thoughts making up a swamp of unsettling emotions. _What am I gonna tell my parents?_ She wondered. _What am I gonna do when I deliver...this thing?! My life is over._

She got up, wiped her face and opened the door to go back into her room, only to nearly fall back in shock when she found a 22 year old Chinese woman in a sunny white polka dot red dress.

"Sorry to scare you." said Sagi-Weilan.

"How did you-"

"I'm a Tiraken." SW bragged. _Sort_ _of_. She thought in her head. "I've been doing this since I could swim. So how many weeks are you?" Ondina absentmindedly rested her hand on her stomach. "From the looks of you, I'd say no more than 3 or 4. I assume you haven't told your parents yet? I mean how could you? With their jobs going so smoothly, your best friend's on a roll with her work, your boyfriend, er **ex** -boyfriend is amazing and his brother is having difficulty enough balancing 3 lives. My point is, you've got no choice but to keep this baby, but what are you gonna do after that?"

Ondina looked down in shame, asking herself the same question. What would she do for this baby? Would she keep it? Would she raise it? Or would she give it away to a family who could be equipped to raise a child that she never intended to have?

"You know you can't raise it." said SW.

"I'm sorry, but how do you know about this?" Ondina asked.

"It wasn't that hard actually." said SW, walking towards her. "I saw you this morning when I was getting a juice. I mean, come on, the morning sickness, the cravings? Someone's gonna notice. And someone will if you don't listen. But don't look at me as someone who wants to hurt you. See me as someone who wants to help."

"I don't need your help!" Ondina exclaimed. "Get the hell out of my house!" She threw a pillow in rage at the Chinese woman, but she didn't faze.

"What are you gonna do when you start to really look like a whale?"

That statement alone was powerful enough to make Ondina freeze in her tracks. She certainly didn't want people finding out about this, especially Erik or his family. But how was she gonna hide something as immaculating as an accidental pregnancy?

"What can I do?" She finally asked.

SW smiled and handed her a gold pendant with a bright red ruby in it. "Here. It's a powerful illusion amulet. It makes anyone who has deformities look normal. Horns, fangs, even baby bumps. But wear this only when you show. Also FYI, try sea sponge cordial with powdered coral three times a day. It helps with the sickness. Also, try eating more seafood, it helps with the baby's growth and it'll lessen your cravings."

Ondina took it gingerly and rubbed her fingers over it. It seemed like the right thing to do but she still had doubts.

"I don't understand." said the Portugese-Australian mermaid. "How do you know about this? Why are you helping me? What do you want from me?"

"Let's just say we have something in common." said SW.

 _Or rather,_ She thought. **SOMEONE** _in_ _common_

Back at the Tauna Pack base Carly woke up to the feeling of something wet being dabbed on her forehead. She looked up to see that it was Artemis.

"Whas happe?" She slurred out.

"Thank Lua that Memorium Explorum is somewhat illegal." Artemis said.

"What's Lua?" Carly asked. "Is that like God?"

Artemis chuckled, helping Carly up. "No, Man invented God. She's older than that. Now come on, the council's about to deliver your verdict."

Carly gulped as the werewolf dragged her back to the circle, just as the council members came back along with the Gamma Squad from before and a few other people.

Luna Neveah took the stand and said, "Deliver the verdict."

The gangly werefox who read the charges before stood and got an envelope from one of the wereshifters. "Will the accused please rise?"

Her heart thumping, cold sweat trickling down her face, the werecougar rose on her feet, since they weren't bound but her hands were.

"On account of harming the pack scout, Louis Michal Garou, the Tauna Pack Elders find you, Caroline Morgan...not guilty." There was some murmur about this before the Luna called for silence. "On the account of denying your Alpha, the Tauna Pack Elders find you, Caroline Morgan...not guilty and sentence the accused to be cleared of all charges."

"Court is adjorned." Neveah ordered, and let out a pure roar that sent shivers up Carly's spine. Everyone then left but Artemis was ordered to bring Carly to her den, where the Talbots made a fateful request.

Meanwhile, The Sirens Creed went to the Blakely House, after a phone call with Cam had led them to the last place anyone saw his girlfriend. Of course, they had to explain that she was away, but they left out the part out that she was kidnapped.

"Alright." said Kimi. "This is the last place Carly was seen. Cam said that she went home, but we know better."

"You're starting to sound like Xhiva." said Rose. "Are you sure you two aren't sharing brains or something?"

"No Rosie." Kimi chuckled at the Latina's quirky attitude. "We just have consistent patterns of thought. And I'm not sure if it's even physically possible to have two brains in the same headspace."

"Ok." said Diablo clapping his hands. "Who's got something of Carly's? And it better not be a sock or a shoe. After smelling Erik's one time, I am **not** getting my nose clogged again!"

"Sorry, you had to **smell** Erik's socks?" Helen asked. "Crikey, that must have been a nightmare." The Argentinian merman nodded grimly, his nose wrinkling at the memory.

"Why?" Thalie asked.

"It's a long story." said Raiden. "One I don't want to get into right now. Anybody got a shirt or something?"

"I've got this." Rose said, holding out a shirt.

"Actually, I had that." said Xandou.

"Actually I had that." Rose mimicked in a high pitched voice.

"Estoy muy orgullosa de ustedes." **(I'm so proud of you.)** Diablo whispered to his girlfriend as she handed him the pink shirt.

"Alright guys." Thalie said. "Just like we practiced."

The mer-teens all formed a shell, surrounding the werewolf/ Alpha merman hybrid as he reached in himself and used his special merman powers to become a specific land animal, capable of tracking scents from a thousand miles; a small bear.

"Uh Diablo." said Helen. "Not to be Captain Obvious here, but you do realize this **is** a human neighborhood, full of people who go on their daily lives not surrounded by wild bears?"

Diablo let out a grunt of annoyance before changing his form into another scent finding creature on land, a bloodhound.

"Much better." said Kimi. They all watched as their friend began to sniff the pink T shirt that belonged to Carly. Letting out several barks after sniffing the air, Diablo the Bloodhound began to run towards the scent.

"Come on!" Xandou shouted. "What are we waiting for! Let's follow him!"

"Alright Wolfboy." said Thalie as she ran. "Lead the way."

They continued down the street, with Kimi deducing that she was on her way home, when something happened.

Somewhere along the way, Diablo stopped running and backed away, almost as if he was repelled by something.

"Hey I think he found something!" Rose said, running over. "Are you ok?" She asked.

Diablo tried to stand up on his four hind legs, but he was wobbling a bit, as if he was slightly drunk. He then laid down, trying to rest.

"I think something's wrong with him." said Rose trying to wake him up.

"I don't understand what's happening." said Kimi. "I'm not smelling anything in the air that would be harmful."

"What if I can?" Rose piped up.

"Is it possible you can determine what's wrong with him?" Xhiva asked.

"No offense but you're not part werewolf." said Raiden.

"No wait a minute." said Helen. "It might be possible. Chicks, remember when we first got our powers? And we had to find Evie because Rose could hear her from the cafe, even though no one else could?"

"Of course!" Thalie exclaimed. "Rosie's hearing was enhanced that day! That's how we were able to get Evie free from that pink stuff."

"Pink stuff?" Raiden asked.

"It's a long story." said Kimi. "But it could be possible that Rose's sense of smell was als enhanced. Rose have you ever tried sniffing out anything?"

The Air Omega shrugged. "No I never thought of it that way, and since we were in the water so much, I never really needed a reason to sniff out anything."

"Can you try at least try?" Thalie asked.

"Sure." said Rose eagerly. She walked forward to where Diablo had been weakened, pointed to the air and asked, "This is where it is?"

The dog nodded. Rose got real close, closed her eyes and let the air come to her, the usual method of how she accessed her powers. But this time, she let it come to her nose. She took a big long sniff and exhaled. A couple of more breaths and she stood up.

"Well?" Helen asked. "What did you find out?"

"It's some sort of flowery scent." said Rosalina. "It's really fragrant but it's not hurting me the way it hurt Diablo."

"Well if this is something that attacked Carly on her way home," said Thalie. "It might be something that affects wereshifters."

"It makes sense then!" Rose exclaimed.

"What do you have in mind?" Xhiva asked.

"Let's have a review of werewolf movie history." said Rose. ""Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and Autumn moon is bright." She took a dramatic bow.

"Your point?" Raiden asked, not seeing where Rose was getting at.

"Wolfsbane, wolfsbane." Xandou muttered. "Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"Getting closer!" Rose said excited. "What's a flower, that weakens werewolves?"

"Aconitum Vulpira." said Kimi. "Otherwise known as aconite, monkshood or,"

"Wolfsbane." Diablo said, getting up after transforming back into his human form.

"You ok?" Kimi asked.

"A little weak but I'm good." said Diablo. "And she's right. It's wolfsbane that must have knocked out Carly."

"Wait, I thought that wolfsbane killed shifters." said Helen. "Unless I fell asleep during that old werewolf movie we watched on one of our movie nights."

"No wolfsbane doesn't necessarily **kill** a wereshifter." said Xhiva.

"It practically blindfolds their senses and at times knocks 'em right out." said Xandou. "It's like a werewolf's Oxycodone."

"It's pretty harmless when someone like Diablo breathes it in." said Raiden, waving his hand over his mouth for emphasis. "But you don't want it injected with that stuff. For a werewolf, **that** is that can happen to you. You will die, a very slow and painful death."

"Not to be impressed by your knowledge but how do you guys know about this?" Thalie asked warily.

"Back when we used to go joyriding and shoplifting, we used to carry a perfume bottle of the stuff for Diablo." said Raiden. "If he you know, raided the meat locker."

"Hey if there's one thing I will **not** be denied, it's my meaty meat!" Diablo said, huffing his chest out proudly. The girls chuckled at this while the boys rolled their eyes.

"Getting back to topic," said Thalie. "According to my mom, wolfsbane is generally used by hunters."

"You lackeys have actual people who kill werewolves for a living?" Helen asked Diablo.

"Yes." said Diablo. "Unfortunately yes."

"But why would Hunters be in a mermaid reigon?" Kimi asked. "It's not like mermaids are a danger to humans."

"Hey!" Raiden yelled.

"No offense." Kimi said feverently.

"Nice save." whispered Helen. "And Kims got a point. What the hell would hunters be doing here?"

"What if it's not werewolf hunters?" Thalie asked.

"How do you mean?" Rose asked.

"Diablo knows about wolfsbane and he's part werewolf right?" Thalie asked.

"Well I have to." said Diablo. "Even if it can't actually kill me."

"And Xandou you said that the stuff is a drug to werewolves yes?" Thalie asked.

"What's your ploy?" Xandou asked.

"Who's to say that hunters are the only ones who know how to use wolfsbane?" Thalie asked. "Who do we know can have access to it and be able to use it without being weakened, like the perfume you boys used to control Diablo?"

"Other wereshifters." Helen said. "But then what wereshifters would take Carly just like that?"

"Not what." said Raiden. " **Who**. Someone who held a grudge against her after she was bitten and turned. Someone was denied who they wanted her to bring."

"The Tauna Pack." He and Diablo said in unison.

"Think about it guys." said Raiden. "Their scout attacks Carly, she is put to blame for his disappearance, and give her a week to turn in their scout's body, dead or alive. There's not body delivered so it makes sense that they would take her like that."

"Diablo, do you know what they do to people on their hitlist in a pack?" Helen asked.

The 16 year old Son of Veridia shook his head. "No idea."

"Well then we better figure out a way to save her." said Raiden authoritively. "Or else we may find her mangled body instead." And with that, he led the group running out of the street to Rita's grotto to find answers.

At the Talbot's den at the Tauna Pack base, Carly was befuddled by the gracious opportunity presented while sitting in the couch.

"I'm sorry, could you say that again?" She asked Luna Nevaeh. "I'm not sure I understood you."

"You are allowed to spend a week and a half here." said the werecheetah, sitting in bed. "To train with us, learn our ways, discover our secrets." Soft coughing could be heard, but it wasn't the first time Carly heard it. Nevaeh had explained that her husband was sick.

"But why give me this chance?" Carly asked. "What do I have to give to you?"

"Can you heal my daddy?" A small voice spoke out from the door to the bedroom.

"I'm not sure if I can." said Carly.

"Tabitha, honey." The Luna said. "Would you mind getting more medicine from the healer?"

"Ok." said the little werewolf cub, running out of the house.

"She's your daughter?" Carly asked.

"Yes." said Nevaeh nodding. "Yes she is. But anyway, think of the questions you could answer, you could control your shifts even on a full moon. We won't ask you to join the pack, oh no. We won't ask you to just suddenly leave your life behind. But what we can do is give you a taste of what it's like to be in a pack and apply some of the lessons we have to offer to the rest of your life. And before you ask, there is no cure for Lycanthropy. Once you turn, you cannot go back."

"I was just going to ask what do I have to do in return?" Carly said.

"Carly." said The Luna, taking her hands. "Normally our kind is not allowed in coastal regions but it would violate the peace treaty we have worked so hard to keep if it wasn't a real emergency. Have you ever had at least a tickle in the back of your throat?"

"No." said Carly, shaking her head. "I haven't gotten a cold."

"That's because our kind and merpeople have one thing in common." said Nevaeh. "We have an immune system stronger than a human's, therefore we cannot get sick, except for pregnancies and severe diseases, but we cannot be influenced by the common cold. My husband, Ralph." She pointed to the door where the master bedroom was. "Has been coughing, having seizures, vomiting black fluid and running an intense fever for the past month."

"How is he still alive?" Carly asked.

"We don't know." said Nevaeh.

"Not to be rude, but what's wrong with him?" Carly asked.

"That's an excellent question." said Luna Nevaeh. "We've been to other packs, visited druids, encountered witches, and even vampires! They did find traces of wolfsbane and some other substance in it. But no one's been able to find out what's wrong with him. The only choice left, is mermaids. We need a mermaid healer. We need the Queen."

"How do you?" Carly asked, completely flabbergasted.

Nevaeh only smiled. "Child, even **we** hear news from the sea. You wouldn't happen to know the new clan's queen, would you?"

"Queen Persephone Bauman-Consorzio?" Carly asked. "I know her."

"Really?" Nevaeh asked hopefully, with Tabitha running past them with the medicine. "Oh thank Lua! We need her to come here."

"Why?" Carly asked. "Why can't we just go up to Mako and ask her for help?" Nevaeh looked at her questioningly. "Right, treaty. Persephone though, she may not know how to handle werewolves since she's probably never experienced a need to heal them. But I do know someone who's a genius in this kinds of stuff, and not just mermaids. Her name is Rita Santos. She might be able to help."

"Hmmm." said Neveah. "I will need to see her anyway. I will send you back, with a way for her to contact me."

"So..that's it?" Carly asked as the middle aged werecheetah wrote down something. "You're just letting me go like that?"

"We're not the monsters the movies make us out to be." said Nevaeh.

There was a pregnant pause as Carly took the time to remember her first full moon. The adrenaline, the excitement, the pure animalistic frenzy she was in. She could remember feeling exhilarated but once she changed back, she was horrified."What's it like?" Carly asked. "What's it like when you're running like a bat out of hell?"

"It's the best thing ever!" Tabitha piped up, coming . "You get to go out, play games, run around, and there's all sorts of fun. And we do it once a month! At least that's what kids my age do. I don't know what people like Artie do."

"Artemis?" Carly asked and Tabitha nodded

"Here." said Nevaeh, handing Carly a slip of paper.

"What is this?" Carly asked confused. "A code?"

Nevaeh raised her eyebrows. "It's this RV's phone number. We're naturalists, not savages."

"Thank you again, for…" She fumbled awkwardly. "Not tearing me in half."

"Wait right here." said Nevaeh, walking with Tabitha. "I have to check on my husband."

While the werecheetah with her cub went into the master bedroom. Carly looked around the homey RV. It wasn't fancy but it felt like a comforting home. It was pretty large and from the shade outside, she could see that it was under a tent and she saw a truck in front of it, the door being on the right side, next to a closet which was next to a ladder. Carly assumed that was Tabitha's room. What was strange to her was that even though there was a kitchen, the small master bedroom, and a couple of sofas, there seemed to be no bathroom. No really, there seemed to not be an actual toilet. She noticed the clock on the counter reading 5:28 PM.

"You will get this number to Rita Santos?" Nevaeh asked, bringing the teenager back from her thoughts.

"I promise." said Carly.

"Come on." said Nevaeh, walking with Carly out the door, with the sun already set, allowing the night to creep in the sky. "Just head straight north and you will find yourself on your way home."

"You sure?" Carly asked.

"It's not like I'm feeding you to the wendigos." said Nevaeh. "And sweetie, we are not enforcing this deal on you, to train under our eye, but it's your choice. Whatever you choose, good luck and may Lua guide you."

As Nevaeh went back into the RV, Carly walked in the direction she was instructed and after going past the abandoned golf course site, leaving past the borders of the pack territory, she looked at a nearby sign on the road that said, "GOLD COAST, 7 MILES" She could see the city's lights start to illuminate in the setting night sky.

"Better get started then." With that, Carly took off, running towards the city. Towards her home.

Each of the Sirens Creed had gone on patrol then home, after a heated discussion on whether to pursue Carly. They had argued that it would create conflict if merpeople interfered, or even as their alter egos. So after the arguement had settled, the teenagers agreed to let Carly come back on her own. But if she did not turn up after 48 hours, they would be forced to intervene.

In the Ocean Cafe, though, things got so heated up that Zac and Cam had to take it outside.

"Mate, how could you do this to me?!" Cam shouted.

"Alright you two stop it!" Evie shouted.

"I was trying to protect you!" Zac exclaimed.

"Wow Zac." Cam sneered. "You get angry about a damn prophecy about you and now you're hiding secrets about someone who I care about? God, you're such a hypocrite!"

"Cam I was mad to but Carly…" Evie lost her speech when she saw someone familiar walk towards the trio.

"But Carly what?" Cam asked. "What about my girlfriend aren't you telling me?"

"Uh…" Evie trailed off, unable to form words, because she didn't know what to say at the sudden appearance of her best friend. She was wearing the same clothes as before, a shiny yet classy magenta shirt, blue jeans, and silver sandals. Her hair was a a bit of a mess though, covered in some leaves and dirt, as well as her arms and legs.

"Carly?" Cam asked, completely blown away.

Walking up to them Carly asked, "Well? Did I miss anything?"

**RESTORATION**

Ondina swam to the moon pool alone. She needed some alone time, now more than ever. She had been thrust into a completely unexpected situation, one that she never expected to happen to her. She had heard of teenage pregnancies and how difficult they were, but never in a million years, had she imagined that something like this could happen to **her**.

She tried to tell her mother and father, even tried at dinner with them. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the truth out and always changed the subject without even realizing it or just simply saying that she loved them. How could she tell her own parents or even Erik's last remaining parent, that they were going to be grandparents? How could she tell Zoe that she was going to have a new cousin/surrogate niece. How could she even tell Raiden that he was going to be an uncle when he was a few months shy of 16 or Erik, her childhood best friend and ex-boyfriend, that he had impregnated her with his son or daughter?

And then it clicked to the 17 year old mermaid; She wouldn't have to think of an easy way to say something because she wouldn't have to say anything.

Placing a hand over her stomach, which had yet to show, Ondina Durant-Marino decided that it was also her baby, growing inside her body, which meant that it was her problem to deal with. Her problem and no one else's.


	6. Seeing is Believing

On a bright Saturday, in the ocean, 3 shapes were moving at a high speed (one had left early to make breakfast), racing each other for the thrill of the chase-on each other.

Being mermen, it was in their nature to be in the water. But being best friends and in their heart, brothers, it was in their heart to be there for each other, and occasionally try to beat them in competitions.

Beating their blue fins, feeling the saltwater on their face, the remaining of the Blade Boys swam inside the cave leading to their isolated house on the near outskirts of the town.

"Admit it Xandou." Diablo said, grinning. "I won, you lost."

"Only cause you cheated!" Xandou said. "Lucky bastard, gets to turn into a tiger shark and swims all the way to the North Island. At least I still have my speed."

"You have no proof I did that." said Diablo.

"Oh I don't need to have proof, knucklehead." Xandou chuckled.

"Could be worse Xan." said Raiden, who had gotten out and was drying himself with his purple towel. "It could have been the other tiger shark that just happened to have swum right next to you."

"Oh kiss my ass, Lightning But!" said Diablo, splashing him.

"We're half fish, genius." said Raiden, now dry and standing up. "We have abs, we have good teeth and we have zit free skin. But what we don't have is an actual ass."

"Man, shut up!" Xandou said dragging himself up out of the cave.

"Master Diablo." A British voice drawled from above where Diablo was. It was the boys' butler, George Nicklespend, who was holding an orange towel. "Your ticket to dryness?"

"Hey, thanks man!" Diablo said, taking the towel out of the middle aged human.

"Master Xhiva is upstairs making breakfast." said Nicklespend. "Or the words would be attempting to."

"How can you 'attempt' to make food?" Xandou asked. "That's the same as trying to put on piercings. Just get it done."

"I have your usuals all ready as soon as you see the apocalypse that is the cooking of Xhiva Tiraken." Nicklespend drawled as he went upstairs. Raiden could only laugh at what he was about to see.

When the boys arrived in the kitchen, all eyes, even Xandou's did a double take at the sight of the kitchen. The ceiling had a few pancakes stuck as well as some French Toast and Sweet Meat Buns. The walls were covered with flour and powdered sugar.

Even Xhiva was covered head to toe with flour. On the stove, something was cooking.

"Do I want to know?" Raiden asked.

"I don't understand!" Xhiva exclaimed. "I followed all these recipes and...maybe I shouldn't have added baking powder to the-"

"I don't wanna know." said Xandou. "I really, **really** don't wanna know!"

"I wanna try!" Diablo exclaimed, running over to Xhiva and grabbing the waffle from the pan. After a few minutes, he ran to the window and spat it out while making throw up sounds.

"Xhiva Tiraken." Diablo said in a dramatic voice. "You have failed this art that is breakfast."

"Gee I didn't know that." said Xhiva.

"Come on." said Raiden. "Let's get this cleaned up."

"Oh my God." said Xandou. "Thalie's getting through to you!"

"That or my mom." said Raiden. "I mean it's been half a year since I found out that my long lost mother was alive and missing an eye."

Even with the help of their bulter, the boys started cleaning the kitchen, it certainly wasn't gonna clean itself. To avoid sprouting their tails, they put on their rain gear and then proceeded to clean the kitchen.

"So, what are you guys doing today?" Raiden asked, mopping the floor. "Because if anybody asks me to test their inventions or pranks one more time, I will fry your thing-a-ma-bob so bad, it can't be recycled."

"Hey that was because the turbine jets were broken and I needed a power source." said Xhiva, wiping the windows.

"Well if anyone needs me, I'm at the Zoo." said Diablo.

"I thought you were working at the Marine Park." said Xandou.

"Nope." said Diablo, flipping off the table. "I still hold the record of my career being only 15 minutes-literally!"

"How the hell could your job have been only 15 minutes?" asked Raiden. "That's the same amount of time Evie takes to stop crying every time she sees _Titanic_. Don't tell her I said that by the way."

"I think what you are trying to say, Master Raiden," said Nicklespend. "Is that to you, it seems impossible, that Master Diablo's career lasted such a short time. It's not **impossible** , it's just not **comprehensible**."

"Gee thanks." Diablo droned on. "Anyways, I'm not allowed within 20 yards of the Park ever since I turned one of the shark tanks into a boxing ring."

"Oh God, Diablo." The boys groaned, putting their hands to their faces.

"What did you do this time?" asked Xhiva

"You should talk." Xandou retorted.

"I meant aside from that." Xhiva snapped back bitterly.

"Hey, wasn't my fault!" Diablo exclaimed. "Bruce started it! He stole my cap and wouldn't give it back! And ever since even the cafe is afraid to hire me."

"I wonder why." Raiden said sarcastically.

"Bruce?" Nicklespend asked. "Who's this Bruce?"

"That's what the Marine Park calls him." said Diablo. "I gotta go now." He crouched down and transformed into a Chihuahua, shedding himself of his rain clothes and running upstairs.

"Well that was a bust." said Xhiva. "If anybody needs me, I'll be at Suncoast. I've gotta tutor some freshmen."

"I still can't believe you talked me into going back to school after Dad left." Xandou grumbled.

"It was your choice." said Xhiva. "When we moved back into this house, that was the deal; we could stay in this house as long as we go to school. Though I'm not sure about jobs considering the nightly activities we do."

* * *

As the morning passed on, minute by minute, the merpeople were on their daily business. The North Island was preparing its daily check on the magical shields on all islands; powerful wards to to fend their homes, especially the moon pool against magical threats. There were a few trained dolphins placed around there to watch for humans. The South Island was already awake, and the daily farming and mining took place while some mermaids made the medicine that some doctors needed for healing the injured from an incident at Guardia Island, or the East Island. Like the South Island, the people were already up, literally since the crack of dawn, and the inhabiting merpeople were in their daily training routine. The West Island was just waking though. The philosophers, on a swim, the children and teachers were on their way to school and the moon pool, used for important meetings. The Capitol Island was up and on top of the day, going through the morning reports, running the checks and balances of the other islands.

Sagi-Weilan Tiraken found this interesting as she explored the islands, scoping the areas, and waving hello at the mermaids and mermen that passed her. She smiled sadly at the little mermaids who were with their mothers and she couldn't help but feel a pinch of jealousy at the little girls. After all, that kind of love between her and her mother was practically nonexistent.

When she rose to the surface, a young American voice spoke out, "SW?"

"Thalie." said the Chinese woman, turning around to see the silver tailed mermaid. "Is that right?"

"Yeah." said the blue eyed Omega of Water. "Listen, I've been looking for you. Can we talk?"

SW nodded and with the 16 year old half blood leading the way, swam to the moon pool. It was actually her first time in the place so of course she was in awe of its mystical vibe she had gotten from being in it.

"So, this is the moon pool." said Thalie, gesturing the whole pool.

"I thought it'd be bigger." said SW. "You know, with fountains and jewels, and maybe a flat screen TV?"

"For real?" Thalie asked, trying not to smile at the woman's remark.

"Kidding!" SW exclaimed, prompting laughter from both girls.

"Ok, ok." said Thalie, getting a little more serious. "SW, I'm a friend with your brothers, and I've been talking with the others and I don't think half of them are still sure they should have you around."

"Well I don't mean to be a threat." said SW. "I just want to see my brothers."

"I understand totally." said Thalie. "And it's good to get reacquainted with family. But, you seem to be rushing this a little. Believe me, I know what it's like to move to a new place and reconnect with family you haven't seen for years."

"So, did I do something wrong?" asked SW, acting innocently enough to fool a crowd of people.

 _Yes._ said Thalie, but only in her mind. She wanted to confront the criminal she learned of, but she knew better than to judge a person by their actions.

"You seem like a good person. But I'm friends with your brothers and some of our friends are interested in you and some don't trust you. New people in this town tend to draw attention to themselves. And with school, building this clan and the relationship between mermaids and mermen, still in progress of being fixed, everybody's on edge as it is. So do you think you could take some time, to try to get to know them?"

"Thank you," said SW. "But I'm confused. Why are you giving me a chance? I'm a Tiraken. I come from a family of thieves. And I'm pretty sure my brothers were no angels when you met them."

"Oh they weren't." said Thalie. "But I don't care about where you come from or how you were born. My only concern about is the person I'm sitting across and talking to right now." SW beamed at the 16 year old girl. "What are you smiling for?"

"You're pretty good at giving advice." She said.

"Come on." Thalie dove into the waters, with the older mermaid following her and together, swam straight to a certain entrance.

* * *

In Rita's Grotto, 2 girls were getting ready for the day. Wanting to not miss a minute of her day off, Zoe Khatha put on her dark blue shirt after putting on her ripped jeans and flip flops. Ondina was mixing her crushed coral in the left over sea sponge cordial she found in Rita's fridge.

"Hey Ondina." Zoe said, after putting her hair in a ponytail. "What's that you're drinking?"

"Oh, you know my constant random throwing up?" Ondina asked.

"How could I forget?" Zoe asked, making a noise that sounded like she was vomiting. "You've been puking every 10 minutes for the past several days."

"Well I went to the doctor at Guardia Island," Ondina said, but paused, realizing she was about to accidentally reveal her secret. Luckily, she noticed this and managed to pick herself up. "And it turns out I ate something that had gone bad."

"You got food poisoning." Zoe clarified. "So whatcha eat?"

"Remember when we made our own Seamores?" Ondina asked. "That treat Diablo and his friends make? When I made mine, I didn't know I had picked a prawn that had just died."

"Ondina, are you telling me you ate a dead body?" Zoe asked.

"It was a dead prawn and I didn't know it was dead." said Ondina. "I thought it was sleeping."

"See, Ondina, this is why I always do the potions and the cooking." said Zoe, putting on lip gloss. "Your cooking sucks. And apparently your attention to detail."

"Jesus Christ, you sound like Kimi." said Ondina, drinking her medicine.

"And this is the grotto." Thalie's voice rang out like a clear bell as she walked in with Sagi-Weilan. "Oh, and this is my step sister, Zoe Khatha, and that's Ondina."

"Hey Thalie." Ondina greeted.

"Hey." said Zoe. "So you're the new girl."

"Yeah, I'm the new bitch in town." said SW laughing.

"Great, another Helen." said Zoe.

"I've met that girl." said SW. "Love this place though. Not to mention this city, it's so quiet. Not like Shanghai or Mumbai."

"What's Shanghai like?" Zoe asked.

"It's big and modern." said SW, looking thoughtfully into the distance. "It's a city of the future."

"I'd love to go there, wouldn't you guys?" Zoe asked.

"I've never been to Shanghai but it sounds like New York." said Thalie. "Well, I'll let you girls get to know each other and if you need me, I'll probably be on a swim." Smiling, the 16 year old Water Omega left and a splash could be heard from the grotto pool.

"I like Thalie." said SW, plopping down on the couch. "So, what's a mermaid to do on a day like this?"

"Well I'm off to the Marine Park." said Zoe. "My aunt gave me the day off and I just wanna catch up since I quit the job."

"Why'd you quit?" SW asked. "The Marine Park seems like a nice place to work."

"I will never understand why you even had that job." said Ondina. "If you want to see dolphins, take a swim in the sea."

"And I will never understand your risk taking ability that apparently has an on and off switch by itself." said Zoe. "5 years ago, you tell me to go sneaking in a museum cloaking ourselves, then you tell me we shouldn't even go near a panda when it's in a cage at the zoo. Almost a year ago you tell me that we should run away to land to try to take my brother's powers and then you tell me that going into my ancestor's chamber the first time is a dumbass idea."

"That's because it **was** a dumbass idea!" said Ondina.

"Sounds like you're quite the pair." SW commented.

"Yeah we've been besties since we were born." said Ondina proudly.

"Yeah they took me in when I was 7." said Zoe, adjusting her blue cap. "In fact, we're practically sisters."

"Oh, that's kind of cool." said SW, putting on the best voice and smile she could muster. If the girls had been paying attention, just for a second, they would have seen hurt flash across her dark brown eyes.

"Well I'd better go." said Zoe. "Don't wanna miss the gates opening."

"And you won't wanna miss Chris do you?" Ondina wiggled her eyebrows.

"Seriously?" Zoe blushed a little.

"For what it's worth," said SW. "I think you're kinda adorable. Edgy yet adorable."

The blush on the Canadian mermaid's cheeks darkened to a deep red as she left.

"I saw that." said Ondina. "You like her don't you?"

"I flirt with a lot of girls." said SW. "She just happens to be my type. Now that we're alone, it's time to get to business." She sat down with Ondina and looked to her stomach, Ondina's nesting home for her growing baby. "How are you doing?"

"I've been taking that medicine you told me to." said Ondina. "Which by the way, works, but I haven't told anyone."

"Yeah that may have been my fault." said SW sheepishly. "Look, I didn't mean to be so forthcoming but I was trying to tell you that having a baby is one thing, but having it at your age, especially in a clan, is quite serious. You could lose your job, your reputation, everything. I'm just saying, gossip is taken very seriously among merpeople, you should know that whatever choice you make, it will affect you one way or another."

"My best friend kept an addiction for cigarettes from me and I forgave her." said Ondina, lowering her voice to a whisper. "How the hell am I supposed to look her in the face, and keep telling her anything but the fact that I'm with child? Her cousin's child?"

"As someone who's an expert at keeping secrets," said SW. "I can tell you that the bigger the secret is, the harder it is to keep. Trust me, I still have them."

"Like what?" said Ondina. "I'm pretty sure you've never been knocked up before."

"Oh that I've never been." said SW, getting up to leave. "But let's just say I'm related to a key witness." Before she left, she turned back and said to the Portuguese-Australian mermaid, "Remember, when you're pregnant, you're responsible for 2 lives, yours, and your child's. What happens to your son or daughter depends on you."

* * *

Walking down the school, Rita noticed a familiar green eyed teenager in a yellow sleeveless shirt step out of a classroom, brushing his flat Mohawk with a few strokes.

"Xandou." said Rita. "What brings you here?"

"Just got out of detention." said Xandou, brushing his legs. "I never get used to it. This is why I need the speed, I don't do seats."

"You being in detention doesn't surprise me." said Rita.

"Oh God!" said Xandou in fake pain, putting a hand over his heart. "You wound me!"

"So now you're out of Saturday Detention, what are you going to do?" asked Rita.

"Didn't actually think of that." said Xandou.

"What I suggest is spending time with your sister." said Rita sternly and Xandou in response, threw his head back and gave a zombie's groan. "Xandou, from what I can tell, Sagi-Weilan has been through some really tough times. I was hoping you would make her feel welcome like your brother is trying to do."

"She framed random people just to get our attention," said Xandou. "She's a professional con artist **and** her name means 'Deceiving Flower'. Do any of those things scream we should trust her?"

"Ms. Santos?" Rita's assistant, Anna called from the hallway. "The meeting's about to start."

"I have to go Xandou but please," The middle aged mermaid looked at the teenager with hope. "Please give her a chance, like I gave your father."

"Wait what?" Xandou asked.

"Please. She's your sister who loves you. The least you can do is spare 10 minutes with her." With that, the Suncoast High Principal walked off while Xandou, after making sure that no one could see, ran off at his superspeed.

Dashing through the school, running on the streets, hopping from one avenue to the next, he finally arrived to Chinatown, more specifically to his sister's "shop" which had some customers browsing about the stores contents. Just as he was about to go inside, he felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out, reading the text he received from his sister. He looked at the shop owner, Madam Wu, and said, "Of course she did."

* * *

Meanwhile at the Ocean Cafe, Sagi-Weilan looked around the cafe, nodding at people who smiled at her, and then leaning over the rail, looking into the glistening ocean. She wanted to relax by the shining sea, but something caught her eye. Or rather someone.

 _This must be Zac._ SW thought to herself. _I've heard so much about you._

She walked up to the teen and said, "Well this isn't something I expected to see."

"What?" Zac asked, putting down his magazine.

"A merman sitting in a cafe with a juice." said SW. "Especially a surrogate prince. I thought you'd be out, riding a whale, chilling in the moon pool or summoning up a storm."

Zac laughed at that. "When you ride one whale, you've ridden them all. You must be SW. I've heard so much about you."

"It's funny you should say that." SW chuckled. "I guess you're Zac Blakely. Or is it Zac Bauman? Or Khatha? Whatever floats your boat."

"That's a good one." Zac laughed. "You, a mermaid saying whatever floats my boat. So what are you up to today? Shopping?"

"No just touring the place like a tourist would." said SW.

"Wait and speaking of which, don't you have a shop to look after?" Zac asked. "I heard from your brothers you run an antique shop."

"Nope." said SW. "I just texted Xandou about that. I was actually impersonating the old lady while she was visiting family."

"So...where do you live?" Zac asked.

SW, smiling, decided that she would have some fun. "In an underground network of caves deep under the school."

"Whoa, really?" Zac asked enthusiastically.

"No you idiot," said SW. "I live in an apartment downtown."

"How do you like this place so far?" Zac asked.

"The cafe is cool I guess," said SW. "But this city seems pretty cool. I could get used to this kind of lifestyle."

"Settling down?" Zac asked. "The boring normal life?"

SW laughed. "You, a merman leading a high school life hates the boring life? I may have just met you, but I'm pretty sure most guys in your scales would be begging for all this to end."

Zac just shrugged and replied, "Trust me, I **begged** for the normal life. But I learned the hard way that normal is overrated."

"If only." said SW.

"Hey Zac." said David, coming up to them to take an order. "And miss…"

"I'm Sagi-Weilan Tiraken." said SW, shaking the brown haired boy's hand. "But you can call me SW. Everyone does."

"Are you new in town?" David asked the Chinese woman.

"Yeah." SW replied. "You could say that. I thought I'd find a catwoman here at this time of day. What was her name again? Brooke? Nicole? Barley?"

"Carly." said Zac. "Where did you even get those names?"

"I have dead people's voices in my head that tell me strange things." SW retorted, prompting looks of fear written on their faces. "I'm just kidding! Geez!"

"I gave her the day off." said David. "She had been through a rough time. But aside, from that Zac, there is something you should know. Joe came back from fishing about a couple of hours ago and he's going to The Marine Park saying he saw a monster."

"Did he see anybody in the water?" Zac asked.

"No." said David. "I wasn't with him but he saw he saw something that was brushing in the waves. He won't keep quiet about this."

 _Deja vu._ Zac thought to himself. "Listen, I know some mermen have their own trained animals but whatever it is, I'm sure they've got it hidden right now. Besides, no one is going to believe him."

"If you say so." said David, taking Zac's juice.

* * *

At the Marine Park, Zoe walked around the exhibits, smiling at the little children she used to sell toys to, waving at the dolphins she always helped rehabilitate in the care center. Oh, how she missed her old job!

"Zoe?" A kind voice spoke out. "Is it really you?"

The Canadian mermaid turned around and squealed, running up to him and crushing him in a tender hug. "Dr. Ross!"

"Oh Zoe." the middle aged man said, hugging her back. "It's so good to see you. Now, how is your family? You said you had to leave your job here to help them with some business."

"My family is getting by." said Zoe. "It hasn't been easy, especially for my aunt and cousins. But we'll all pull through."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" The Marine Park director asked sweetly.

"That's very sweet of you," said Zoe. "But we've got it. Things are getting settled as it is."

"Oh and speaking of settling," said Dr. Ross. "You've come at a very convenient time. Two of our park rangers are returning from their time with their families after coming back from their San Diego training trip. Ah, here he comes now!"

Walking towards the duo, were two men in their late teens/early 20's, one had hair that was clearly dyed blond and the other was a refined man with brown hair that shone under the sun and a smile that easily gave Zoe the clue to who he was.

"CHRIS!" Zoe exclaimed, hugging him.

"Jesus, Zoe!" Chris wheezed. "It's been nearly 6 months and you still have a tight grip!"

"Sorry." Zoe blushed. "But I can't believe it, you're back!"

"Well I also brought a friend." said Chris, gesturing to the blonde 19 year old. "This is Karl. He also attends Griffith University and he also went to the dolphin training seminar."

"So you're the famous Zoe." said Karl, shaking her hand. "I've heard a lot about you."

"All good, don't worry." said Chris quickly. "Oh and," He lifted a key with a badge that read, 'Certified Dolphin Trainer.'

"You're a dolphin trainer." said Zoe, beaming. "I knew you could do it."

"Well without you," said Chris. "I wouldn't have been able to pass the course."

"I was just happy to help." said Zoe.

"Chris, we better get a move on." said Karl. "We don't wanna be late on our first day back."

"Ah yes." The others jumped slightly, completely have forgotten that the director was still there. "You boys best be on your way. Zoe, if there's anything you need, just come to my office. Otherwise, feel free to explore the park."

"Thank you." As Karl and Dr. Ross left, Chris and Zoe walked together for a bit, before Chris had to leave for his station.

"You gotta tell me about San Diego sometime." said Zoe.

"I will." said Chris. "It's really great that you're back."

When he was gone, Zoe looked down sadly at the water in one of the habitats and blinked out a couple of tears. "Even if it's only for a day." She whispered.

* * *

At the cafe however, things seemed to be going normally-well, normally for a tourist such as SW Tiraken who was browsing through the Ocean Cafe's clothing store.

"Hello Sagi." said Evie, who had just finished selling a shirt to another customer. "Just browsing or are you after something special?"

"Seeing as I'm going to be in this civilization for a while," said SW, looking at a pink polka dot dress. "I thought I should start dressing like the natives. You have some really nice stuff."

"I try and keep the natives happy." said Evie. "Where are you from?"

"I just relocated from Shanghai." said SW. "Mind if I try this on?" She waved to the dress she was looking at.

"Go ahead." said Evie. "Change room's over there."

As SW went to the dressing rooms, Xandou walked in looking annoyed.

"Hey Xan." said Evie. "You look sullen, well more than usual."

"Har har." the Chinese boy said sarcastically. "Have you seen my tourist relative?"

"Sagi, you mean?" Evie asked, SW, listening in on the conversation unbeknownst to them.

"Xhiva's been all over my ass to try to get along with her." said Xandou exasperated. "And Rita asked me to spend 10 minutes with her, but she dissapeared-no surprise there, seeing as that's her specialty."

"Uh, Xan-"

"God, it's like she's trying to pretend that the past 6 years haven't happened!" Xandou exclaimed. "I can't wait till she's out of here. But I gotta make sure, she doesn't, you know, die or anything. If you see her, just tell her I'm looking for her."

With that, Xandou left, with a fuming woman right on his trail outside of the cafe.

"For your information, Mr. Brooding," SW said, putting her hands on her hips. "Disappearing is not my specialty."

"No, it's being a con artist." said Xandou.

"Look," said SW kindly. "I know I'm the last person you want around-"

"You bet your ass you are." Xandou snapped.

"We got off to a bad start," said SW. "And I know my methods were less than ideal but that's why I'm here, to get a fresh start. Isn't that why you're here too? You should give me a chance, Xan-Xan. We could have fun, like the old times."

"I'm not interested in old times." Xandou snapped. "And don't call me that!"

"See?" His sister asked, slapping his arm. "See, right there, is your problem. I see some part of you hasn't changed."

"Wǒ kěyǐ shuō tóngyàng dehuà, jiejie." **(I can say the same for you, sister.)** said Xandou in Chinese. "Wèile jìlù, wǒ yǐjīng cóng guòqù kāishǐ. Nǐ yě yīnggāi." **(And for the record, I've moved on from my past. You should too.)**

As Xandou turned to leave, SW marched in front of him and said to his face, "Wǒ yǐjīng zǒule." **(I have moved on.)**

"Wǒ yīnggāi mǎi nàgè?" **(And I'm supposed to buy that?)** Xandou asked dangerously.

"Hányì?" **(Meaning?)** SW asked.

"Yìsi shì shuō, wǒ bùjīn yào zhùyì dào nǐ yǐncángle yīxiē dōngxi." **(Meaning, that I couldn't help but notice that you're hiding something. )** said Xandou angrily.

"Wǒ xiǎng zài zhèlǐ chéngshí." **(I'm trying to be honest here.)** said SW, feeling her eyes burn as they began to turn black.

"Nǐ shì?" **(Are you?)** Xandou retorted, making the Chinese mermaid step back a little. "Tell me this, why did you leave? Without so much as a letter?" When he got no respone except for pure silence, he scoffed and said, "That's what I thought." WHOOSH! Xandou ran off at his superspeed, leaving behind a sullen SW at the cafe.

* * *

At the ocean though, Rose, Helen and Thalie were out on a swim out on the wide open spaces of the Eastern Australian Current. Frolicking with dolphins, riding the whales, it never got old for the girls and they knew they would cherish these moments for years to come. At one point, they had a spent some time tanning on the shores of the North Island, at another point, they just swam in the deep trenches. But now, they were in the midst of a nail biting race, which quickly concluded as the girls surfaced.

"See?" Helen asked smugly. "So much faster than you, Oh Glider of Wind."

"I call for a rematch, Fire Princess!" The Air Omega retorted.

Behind them, Thalie could not contain herself as she nearly choked on her laughter.

"Fire Princess?" She asked. "That's..that was actually kind of a clever one. Oh I'm gonna have to remember that one."

"Speaking of clever, ain't a certain Dr. Snowgirl supposed to be here by now?" asked Helen irritably.

Speak of the devil, one might say, with rising to the surface, was the Ice Omega mermaid accompanied by Diablo.

"I thought you were visiting the zoo." said Rose.

"I did." Diablo replied. "Until I got chased out by an angry bulldog."

The other girls either sighed in exasperation or just rolled their eyes and smiled.

"Oh my God, Diablo." said Thalie. "You're alone for 5 minutes and you get into trouble?"

"You've known me for almost a year and this comes as a surprise to you?" Diablo asked rhetorically.

"I'm just saying not even Helen causes this much mayhem in her spare time." said Thalie.

"HEY!" Helen exclaimed with her head slightly ablaze.

"What?" Thalie asked, shrugging. "It's the truth."

"Where were **you** Kims?" asked Rose.

"I was busy with Haru." said Kimi. Haru Hamasaki was Kimi's little brother who was adored for his uniqueness by the family, despite being born with Down's Syndrome. "But other than that, can we all talk about the giant elephant in the room?"

"The apparent hickey on your neck?" Helen asked, wigging her eyebrows and pointing to a small bruise on her shoulder.

"For the 246th time, Helen," groaned the Japanese 16 year old. "It's not a hickey, it's from a sea slug that got stuck on my arm and wouldn't let go. I was referring to the twins' sister."

"I think she seems really nice." said Rose.

"You think everyone seems really nice." Helen snapped.

"I'm just saying that she's probably had it tough," said Rose. "Don't you think she deserves a chance to get to be heard and understood? I mean there's probably a good person underneath her."

"I love you so much right now." said Diablo, kissing his girlfriend.

"Aside from the love fest," said Kimi. "I still find her to be an unknown variable, and you know how I hate the unknown."

"I'm familiar with the frustration." said Helen sarcastically.

"I say she's got a messed up past." said Diablo. "And that says a lot coming from me."

"I kinda don't trust her." said Helen. "Not with her methods of getting attention. And she got it alright."

"I thought you were really friendly with her the other day." said Kimi.

"What?" The Fire Omega asked. "You think she's the only one who can act?"

"Nice!" Diablo gave the dark skinned mermaid a high five. "Other than that, what do you think, Oh Leader?"

Thalie just floated in the water, fumbling through her mind to find a good answer. When she had talked to the girl, she wanted to welcome the new girl with open arms, but she learned a long time ago never to trust new people unless you really know them well. To her, SW seemed like an ordinary newcomer, for a mermaid any way, who just moved into town. But she had to keep a vigilant eye out for potential threats to her homes, both land and sea, and even for the ones who crossed the line by abusing their powers the way SW did. But in Thalie's case, that would be the same as hypocrisy, as she once almost crossed the line to bring someone to justice.

And even though the police had dropped the case, the Ocean Girl part of her wanted to see justice done, the right way. The mermaid part of her, screamed at her that SW was an untrustworthy figure. But the human part of her, the one that she grew up knowing the most, told her that she shouldn't judge a book by it's cover or a person by their past. Yet, even though it was none of her business, she wanted to read the pages of her story.

"Hello!" Rose yelled just as she was delivering a wind blow to her best friend's face.

Thalie spluttered, getting her hair out of her face and snapping out of her trance. "Sorry guys. And Rose? Not funny."

"I don't know, it was funny to me." said Helen smugly.

"Well," said Thalie with concern. "I don't know what to think about Sagi-Weilan. Part of me is telling me that she's not really a bad person but there's this huge chunk of me that's saying she's wearing some sort of mask."

"We all wear masks, Thalassa." said Diablo in an airy tone. "But which one is real? The one that hides your face, or the one that **is** your face?"

* * *

At the Marine Park, Chris and Zoe were at one of the lunch carts when Dr. Ross came up to Chris to give him an unusual assignment.

"You don't believe that Joe really saw a sea monster, do you?" Zoe asked, once the director left.

"Of course he didn't." Chris replied, popping a french fry in his mouth. "But he obviously saw something. You know, scientists believe that the Loch Ness Monster is actually a plesiosaur living in the Loch. Plus the caves of Mako are uncharted, who knows what lies there?"

"Chris, I'm pretty sure there's nothing there but seaweed, rock and moss." said Zoe, taking a slurp out of her juice.

"Yeah, but you can't be certain, can you?" asked Chris, getting a chuckle from Zoe.

* * *

At Gold Coast High School though, football practice took place, and was being watched by one curious SW. She laughed as she had a distinctive flashback of when she used to train with the other members of the Kanhoji Cult and a few occasional roughhouse spar matches with her brothers.

"Hey Sagi."

Speak of the Devil. Well, the green half of the Devil.

"Xhiva." said the Chinese mermaid, scooting over so her brother could sit down.

"Are you exploring the city like I predicted or did your interest dissipate like one of David's swimming trunks that one time?"

"First of all," said SW. "I'm doing well. The people here seem ok. And second, David's swim trunks disappeared?"

"Yeah, don't ask." said Xhiva, brushing his hand in the air to avoid further talk of the awkward incident. "But let's talk." He threw to her a box of dried seaweed and he opened his own.

"I do assume you don't want to talk about the giant elephant standing on these bleachers?" SW asked, noticing Xhiva's pointed look. "And don't give me that look, Xhiva, you know what I'm talking about. Here's a hint, his name is pronounced Zhan-dough."

"I already knew that, sis." Xhiva chastised.

"Really?" challenged SW. "He and I aren't exactly getting on."

"Well you know him." said Xhiva. "He's been distant and stubborn since he was conceived."

"And you're the black sheep that emerged from that fetus?" SW at a strip of seaweed. "I was trying to be friendly with him but he blew me off. Implied I was a pathological liar."

"Well you are a skilled actress." said Xhiva. "But if you really want to come clean, tell me. What happened to you?"

Sighing with contempt, SW held back the lump in her throat and began to tell her story.

"You know how Mother was...passionate about her work?" SW asked, with Xhiva shifting uncomfortably at the mention of his mother, because it was no secret to Xiaohui's children that their mother was a convicted serial killer and behind bars on at least 35 counts of murder.

"Of course I remember." said Xhiva. "I was there sometimes."

"Yeah and you were lucky to just **see** it then." said SW bitterly. "For me, sometimes, I was forced to be Mommy's Little Helper, but the problem was, I never knew what she was actually gonna do. The last time I 'helped' her, I realized at the last minute there was a child in there. And she knew I have an extremely soft spot for kids, so she didn't tell me. So when I was ordered to break open the house's door, one of the bedroom doors was open and I realized that I was gonna help make that girl an orphan. So I tried to stop Mom, but she knocked me out and the next thing I know, I wake up in a bed in the Medical Center. And when I learned that the girl had been stabbed and the father had been shot in the head, I ran, wanting to get away from it all."

"Is that why you left without saying goodbye?" asked Xhiva. "And who were those people who were murdered?"

SW sniffled, wiping a few tears. "They actually survived. Thank God for Moon Pools. But I don't know who they were. For me it was always this; get the house open and get out."

"Why didn't she-"

"I don't want to talk about it!" SW exclaimed, with her eyes becoming abysses of black nothingness before fading back to normal brown. "You came here for a second chance right? So did I. After I went into hiding, I stayed in Shanghai and once I heard rumors of a clan building up in the South Pacific of the Mako Islands, I came here immediately to start a new life and put the past behind me. I also heard that you guys were here, so I set up my...performance and I guess old habits die hard."

"Jesus." said Xhiva. "God, I can't imagine what that night must have been like."

"It was...awful." said SW. "And that's why, despite what some of the others think, I will never hurt anybody again, or threaten anybody."

"aap majaboot hain, bahan." **(You're strong, sister.)** Xhiva said in Hindi comfortingly, hugging his older sibling. "You know, Erik and Raiden were former assasains and Zoe used to be a hitwoman for hire, and trust me she was the Queen of Trainwrecks when I first met her. If they could get their shit together, I think you can too."

"Really?" SW asked before saying in Hindi, "Dhanyavaad." **(Thank you.)**

"I'll have a word with Xandou." said Xhiva. "Come on."

Since Xhiva was finished with tutoring other freshman and seniors from school, he took SW on a walk down the city.

* * *

A few kilometers from the clan's boundaries of Mako Island, a mermaid on guard patrol duty broke her swim pattern to inch closer, while being cloaked, to an approaching boat. It didn't seem to pose any threat to the mermaid, as it only carried two land men on it that appeared to be dressed in diver suits. Still, as a protector of Mako's magical heart, she had to make sure that no trespassers would discover the Moon Pool. And it was her job to make sure that no merpeople were spotted if they were on a swim at an unlucky time.

Pressing an echo seashell (which was an invention by some mermen that acted like auditory binoculars) against her ear, the mermaid listened to the two land people speaking.

"According to that guy's coordinates," a brown haired boy said, looking at a device. "This is where he saw it."

"I still think this is pointless Chris." a blonde haired man said.

"Karl, global warming is affecting ocean temperatures." said Chris. "With the ice caps melting, this could bring up all sorts of creatures from the deep."

"Yeah, yeah, dream on." said Karl, pulling his shirt off and completing his diver's suit.

"With the recent inexplicable storms in this reef," said Chris. "There's no telling what will come."

"And that includes a sea monster?" Karl asked, cleaning his diving mask.

"I'm just saying," Chris raised his hands in surrender. "Anything can happen in the ocean."

"That's what you say every day, Chris." said Karl. "You even have a poster of it in our dorm room."

"Karl, you're not missing your lonely life at Queensland University are you?" Chris asked teasingly.

"Nope." Karl answered quickly. "Absolutely not."

"Now, when we're diving we're gonna have to stay in sight of each other." Chris reminded his roommate as he was putting on his flippers.

"Unlikely as it seems, what if we **do** find something?" asked Karl.

"Get pictures," Chris stated. "And we get out of there."

"Works for me." said Karl. "If that doesn't work and we do find a sea monster, I've got another plan."

"Which is?" Chris asked.

"You swim one way, I swim the other. Whoever's the monster's lunch, too bad for him."

"I hate that plan." The mermaid who was listening with the magic seashell, swam off quickly to warn the other mermaid a few miles away, who was also a post guard.

"Code Blue." said the watchguard. "Activate Code Blue."

"Right." said the mermaid guard. "Spread the word all over Mako, make sure nobody is at any large activity. Should we tell the Queen?"

"No." said the watchguard. "It's just two divers."

"Be careful." said the mermaid guard, taking out a conch shell and blowing it 4 times

"What do you reckon that is?" Karl asked, slipping on his mask

"Must be a whale?" Chris asked, before giving the OK motion with his hands. When Karl gave it back, they both dove into the sea.

* * *

"Each of you are special." said Ondina, as she was in the moon pool, teaching her class today. "Do you know why?" Some of the children either shrugged or shook their heads. "You're special because you all have-

Ondina was cut off by a merman surfacing, to the confusion of the children, and he was whispering in her ear,

"There's a Code Blue in place."

"Is this a drill?" Ondina whispered.

"No, it's the real deal." said the merman. "It's just two divers, but the conch shell has already been sounded."

When the merman left, Ondina said to the children, "You may have heard the four conch shells, for those of you don't know what that is, Code Blue is part of our new system of preparing for any threat. Now you don't wanna hear one long blow of the conch horn and hear a Code Red being activated, that there, means we're under attack. We're lucky that it's only a couple of divers, but we have to be ready for anything. "

"Now we're talking!" A young merman shouted, making some of the children laugh.

"In this case," Ondina continued, "Until they leave, we all have to be very careful, so when this lesson is over, you will all have to be very silent and fast."

"So what you're saying is, is that this lesson is already over?" a young merman asked.

Ondina rolled her eyes in amusement. "Nice try. Yeah, you're stuck with me." "Now where was I?" She wondered, ignoring some of the collective groans of the students. "Ah yes, you're special because you all have individual outlooks on the ocean, your home. See, you all have great ways to using your powers, but as you grow, you will find that sometimes, your powers are strongest when you work in a group. I mean, look at this clan and the relationship between mermaids and mermen. How did we all come this far in the span of almost 6 moon cycle? By working together." Using her magic, Ondina conjured up a water ball.

"We already did those." a young merboy said.

"Yes, I know, Torrance." Ondina replied snarkily. "Now catch!" She threw the ball back and Torrance caught it, levitating it steadily. "Very good. Now pass it on."

Torrance passed it on, from one merperson to the next, and after a short session of practice with the entire class of 20 hatchlings, Ondina said to them, "Good, I want everyone to form into two pairs. You already know how to form water balls so practice this exercise with your partner."

* * *

At the cafe, one Joe Sullivan came in rolling a cart of boxes, and he was whistling like Christmas had come early.

"You're in a good mood." David noted as he was cleaning a table.

"I just spoke to the guy in front of the Marine Park." said Joe. "He's sent two of his best guys to check it out."

"When are they going?" asked David curiously.

"Oh they're out there right now." Joe bragged. "Yeah, with some sort of heat sensing equipment. So if that thing's down there, they're gonna find it."

As Joe walked away laughing with glee at the hope for money, David walked to where he saw Xhiva texting with his sister looking through a couple of really nice dresses she wanted to try.

"Xhiva." He said to the Indian teen.

"Hey, David." The 16 year old merman smiled at him (Both the twins were born in November, 1999).

"Say that some divers going out near Mako to find something." said David. "What would happen then?"

"Well according to Queen Persephone," replied Xhiva. "If there's just divers, taking a swim, they would initiate Code Green."

"What's that?" SW asked.

"Pretty much what you think happens during the first 2 minutes of a school shooting drill." said Xhiva. "Just as long as all merpeople are in the caves or out of sight, and the divers aren't really doing anything, the guards won't have a reason to go after anyone."

"Why do you ask?" SW asked with interest.

* * *

At the Marine Park diving boat, the two divers seemed to almost call it quits on their assignment. The key word, being 'almost'.

"Well that was a total bust." said Karl. "Except for that humongous forest of kelp. Now that, was huge."

"We can't give up yet or get distracted." said Chris.

"I don't see any sea monster, do you?" Karl challenged.

"Well, maybe it doesn't wanna be found." said Chris.

"If I were a sea monster, where would I go?" Karl asked.

"Well there's caves under Mako." said Chris, clearly persisting and not giving up.

"Fine." said Karl, starting up the boat. By then, all the mermaids and merman of Mako Island were under lockdown, in cloaking, and caves.

On the far off beaches, a yellow blur ran across until it stopped, and took the form of Xandou, then running at normal speed to talk to his brother.

"I got your message, what's up?" asked the speedster.

"Two divers are at Mako." said Xhiva. "They're from the Marine Park looking for some monster."

"Well the clan's got it's system." said Xandou. "And thank God, they got their shit together about that. And besides, you do know we're merfolk and us merfolk can cloak?"

"They took with them some thermo-sensory gear." said Xhiva. "Even if merfolk are invisible-"

"They still regulate body temperatures." Xandou finished his brother. "Alright, we gotta move, now."

"Let's go." SW's voice came behind them.

"As soon as we get rid of her." said Xandou.

"Xan, we don't have time for this."SW said.

"No." said Xandou stubbornly. "We're not leaving until I get some answers."

Looking at her brother with solemn, SW started her story that she told Xhiva.

* * *

"Remember, we're gonna have to stay in sight of each other." Chris reminded Karl once they were getting ready to dive back into the sea. "Mind if I borrow the heat sensor?"

"Go for it." said Karl slipping on his mask. "But if anything happens to it, you're paying for it."

Once the divers gave the OK sign to each other, they dove in the water, unaware of what lurked behind the corals and caves. As long as the merfolk were invisible, they could move, but they had to move out of the line of possible sight. In other words, either you moved to the other side of the island, or you stayed where you were. The second choice was easy, but moving around, was hard since it was hard to swim while holding your invisibility, and they could not risk having the humans see streaks of fast moving objects going at the speed of a torpedo.

* * *

"That's it?" Xandou asked. "After 6 years, that's the answer I get?"

"I'm being as open and honest as a person can be." said SW angrily.

"Oh is that so?" Xandou asked. "You know, I came here to get away from my past and my parents, but I guess those things combined just happend to follow me."

"I see now," said SW. "You're angry at me because of Mom and Dad."

"Whatever." Xandou turned his back on his sister, not willing to listen to her.

"SW does have a point." said Xhiva. "Our parents were controlling us over so we all ran off at different points. You act like you hate them, and even Sagi-Weilan, but you don't. You just feel guilty."

"I **do** hate them." Xandou declared.

"I don't think so." said Xhiva. "I think you miss them, but you don't wanna deal with it, so instead you act like this."

"I understand completely where you're coming from." said SW.

"Do you?" Xandou asked. "Do you have any idea how it felt that you left like that? Do you have any idea how it felt to lose the one person I looked up to the most?"

 _Wow..._ SW thought to herself. _I didn't know. I'm sorry, Otutu._ But instead she said, "Look, I admit that I was not a perfect kid, and I made some mistakes in the past, but Xan, Xhiva and I already talked about this and worked things out. If you had gotten together with us like we asked, you would know I'm a different person now. I've been a different person for a long time."

"Oh is that so?" said Xandou. "Then why did you announce yourself here in the selfish way you did?"

"Because you two were the ones who really knew me."

That sentence right there, that sentence, broke Xandou, waging a war within his mind, on whether to yell at his sister or call himself a Grade A idiot.

"Come on." SW said to her brothers. "We've got divers to scare off, and technology to confuse."

When SW and Xhiva dove into the sea, Xandou stayed behind, looking at the sea with simmering heat.

* * *

In the Mako Island reef, the Chris and Karl were exploring, not yet entering the caves, and both were completely unaware of the invisible guards watching them, making sure that they didn't go into any cave, specifically the moon pool.

* * *

"You all have done well today." Ondina said to her students with humility. "You should all be proud of yourselves. Now, the way we're gonna do this, is we're all gonna go in two pairs, so I want everyone to get into pairs of two and form a line. Now when I give the signal, you will go and swim to the other side of Mako until the all clear is sounded. **Only** on my signal. We don't want any accidents."

As the children got into pairs and struggled to make a line with the temptation of just wanting to leave to go out into the sea, Ondina ducked under, leading the first five pairs of the line slowly to the cave. They stayed in the shadows while Ondina turned invisible, watching the divers.

One by one, the pairs came out slowly and then sped off to the other side of the island.

* * *

Swimming at torpedo speed, off to Mako, were Xhiva and SW.

 _ **SW.**_ Xhiva said through the mental link merfolk could perform underwater. _**Any chance you could possess one of the Marine Park divers to call it off?**_

 _ **Well, I can't exactly do that on a person using legs if I don't have them myself.**_ SW gestured to her shimmering golden mermaid tail.

Once they got to the reef, they hid behind corals, acting out of years of stealth training in the sea.

 _ **What are you two doing?**_ The mermaid watchguard asked, tapping on their shoulders. _**We're on a lockdown.**_

 _ **We're here to help.**_ said SW. _**They've got some sort of gear that can sense heat. Merfolk might be able cloak but their bodies are still warm.**_

The watchguard looked around and asked, _**Any ideas?**_

 _ **Just one.**_ said Xhiva. _**SW, take care of the kids, I'll deal with the diver's heat sensor.**_

All three merfolk nodding at each other, broke off to do their jobs; The Watchguard mermaid off to silently keep watch for any more merpeople who were unaware of the situation taking place, Xhiva stayed behind the coral to try to disable the heat sensor as well as their diving equipment.

SW however, had just arrived inside of the Moon Pool entrance where the next pair of children was about to leave.

 _ **What are you doing here?**_ Ondina asked mentally.

 _ **Saving your tails.**_ said SW. _**I can get them out of here faster.**_

_**Fine.** _

The Chinese mermaid then grabbed the hands of the next two children and gripped them tight, as if to say, "Hold tight", and when it was time, she swam with them.

Unfortunately, while SW was getting the kids out there faster, Xhiva was having a hard time getting a technopathic grip on the heat sensor.

 _ **Boy,**_ The Watchguard said impatiently. _**Anytime!**_

 _ **I'm trying!**_ Xhiva exclaimed. _**I can't get a clear shot if the guy holding the heat sensor is big and won't HOLD STILL!**_

At the Mako Entrance Cave, things seemed to be going slowly for getting the kids out, as Mako was a pretty big island and only three pairs of children were escorted out of sight.

Luckily, hope turned up in the form of a blur, as the blur took away one pair of children, zoomed off and came back in a flash, to reveal out of the bubbles,

_**Xandou?** _

_**Come on,**_ Xandou grunted, getting some more kids and zooming off.

 _ **Fastest fish boy alive.**_ Ondina joked.

 _ **He's gotten better with his swimming.**_ said SW.

A few more careful rounds, of picking up children Xandou swam to his brother while SW stayed with Ondina.

 _ **I'm gonna check if there's anyone left behind.**_ said Ondina, swimming back. Once she made sure no one was invisible and left behind, she went back out.

But panic gripped her heart like stone when she saw a diver approaching the cave entrance. Thinking of no other solution at the second, she swam back into the cave.

Yet just as Chris was about to enter the cave, SW, who was invisible, created a small storm of bubbles that blew on his face.

That action alone gave Xhiva more than enough time to swim in front of the diver, while cloaked, and use his special Delta powers to confuse the heat sensor to not pick up anything even if a merman was floating right in front of him.

However, part of his fin had accidentally brushed on Chris' leg.

The diver just floated there, flabbergasted. He couldn't see anything, the heat sensor wasn't picking up anything, and yet, something slimy and fishy was there. What was going on? He wondered.

Unfortunately for him, Karl was giving the thumbs up, which was Diver Lingo for returning to the surface.

While the divers returned, SW helped Ondina out of the cave.

"What was that?" SW asked.

"I panicked, alright?" Ondina asked. "Was that everyone, otherwise."

"Yeah we're all good." replied the 22 year old.

When Ondina left, the twins came back up, staring at the boat.

"Didn't know you'd come Xandou." said Xhiva.

"I do have a conscience you know." said Xandou. "We're just lucky no one entered any of the caves."

"Well it looks like they're leaving." said SW.

"That was too easy." said Xandou.

"Think of the bigger picture." said SW sternly. "They came looking for a sea monster remember? What if they come back with more company? And they look on the other islands?"

"She's got a point Xan." said Xhiva. "We can't risk anyone of the Marine Park coming back."

"Anybody got any genius ideas?" Xandou asked impatiently.

"All I got is sinking their boat." said Xhiva dejectedly.

Their sister smirked. "Something tells me we can be more subtle than that."

* * *

"Something was in there." said Chris, when he and Karl were getting ready to leave.

"Did you get a picture?" Karl questioned.

"No," Chris trailed off. "It was, it was invisible."

"So you saw something invisible." Karl clarified.

"I felt something brush past me." said Chris stubbornly. "Did you see something?"

"You mean the invisible thing?" Karl asked. "Yeah, saw that."

"Well I'm going back in." said Chris.

"I'm too low on air to dive in." said Karl. "And you can't dive without me. Sorry buddy, but we're heading home."

* * *

While Chris was stripping himself down of his diving gear, Karl started the boat on the course back to the city's docks.

But unbeknownst to either diver, the 3 Tiraken siblings were following them, right under the boat.

Their plan was this; to follow them back to the place where they first started, hopefully to cause a ruse convincing enough to drive the Marine Park workers away. What that ruse, would be, was up to the moment they created it.

So, they dove down to very spot where they started, and searched every nook and cranny for an idea.

Things seemed out of suggestion until Xandou swam into a large kelp forest, his own natural aquatic instincts guiding him through the green maze until he spotted a large whale, entangled in kelp.

 _ **Hey little guy.**_ He spoke with the mental link merpeople used, since he didn't know how to speak whale. _**What's up?**_

 _ **I was just going to ask you the same question.**_ He heard his brother's voice speak out. _**Xandow, you're emitting waves of sympathy.**_

 _ **Help me get this whale out.**_ Xandou said.

 _ **Why?**_ asked Xhiva, not noticing was right behind him.

 _ **I think we found an excuse for the sea monster.**_ Xandou waved over. _**Come on. See that chain? Help me get it loose.**_

 _ **As for the whale,**_ SW spoke, startling the two boys. _**I know just what to do.**_

 _ **Sis, is there any way you could show up without raising my blood pressure?**_ asked Xandou. _**Now come on.**_

As Xandou and SW, made their side plan, Xhiva swam down, to find an old anchor, with the chain that was trapping the whale! Using quick thinking, he used his basic merman powers to freeze the chain and was about to snap it with his tail when it came crashing down.

 _ **Nobody likes a sore loser, Xhiva!**_ Xandou teased.

Rolling her eyes, SW placed her hand on the whale and with a shimmering bronze light, merged into the whale, with it's eyes turning into abysses of pitch darkness.

* * *

"I'm starving." said Karl. "Grab a burger on the way home?"

"Yeah." Chris agreed.

But suddenly, a shape moved near the boat, and the shape grew, and grew, and grew until finally it popped, revealing a diving whale.

Karl swore for a second, that the whale's eyes were black but he didn't care because when the whale flapped it's tail at them, they were both soaked to the bone.

"I guess we found the sea monster." said Karl.

* * *

Later that day, the Ocean Cafe was still busy as ever. As SW walked in, she could see many of the people still going about their lives, and she even giggled at Joe's frustrated call with the Marine Park.

"SW." David greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here to pick up an order." She said.

"Right." said David, looking at the computer. "I'll be right back, ok?"

When the curly haired teenager left, for the kitchens, SW just stood there at the counter, drumming her fingers on the smooth surface. She might have been a patient girl, but when it came to food, she tended to get a little antsy.

"Sagi?" A British voice rang to her. Turning around, she saw it was Helen.

"Hi Helen." She said.

"Can I talk to you privately for a minute?" Helen asked, leading the woman to the cool room.

"So what's up?" SW asked innocently.

In a mere snap, the friendly face disappeared from Helen and was replaced by her eyes glowing her mermaid fiery gold, and fury was barely contained with her figure as she lifted her palm to show that it was on fire.

"You might be new here, and you might have gone through a...transformation. But don't think for a second that you're not a threat. You'll get better, we'll eventaully like you, but I want you to get this message incinerated into your skull Sagi-Weilan Tiraken-you make one slip up, get one toe out of line, hurt my friends, any of them or give me a reason to not trust you, then you won't have to worry about getting another chance, because I'll make sure that those chances are taken away from you. **Permanently** **.** "

* * *

At the Home Base, the twins had just come back from their night out skateboarding with their friends. They entered their home, got dirt from their shoes and walked into the dining room, to find a setout for a grand feast. Flowers, their old mahogany chopsticks, George Whisper's "Careless Whisper" playing in the background. The only thing missing was candles, but that was old fashioned even for them.

"Did you do this?" Xhiva asked.

"Where's Nicklespend?" Xandou asked. "But this place looks lit."

"I'm off boys." the family butler came in. "Your sister took the liberty of arranging this dinner and has given me the night off."

"That was nice of her." said Xhiva once the butler left. "Xan, you should cut her some slack. She's had it bad."

"And we haven't?" Xandou asked.

"You called her selfish." said Xhiva, sitting down. "She didn't have to help and neither did you. I guess I can't call the both of you selfish then."

Xandou gave a soft scoff just as SW entered the dining room with a box of sea food.

"Did you get all this done by yourself?" Xhiva asked.

"I heard about your...experiment." said SW to her brother as she was unloading food into the serving plates. "Xhi, you should really stick to piano instead of cooking. For all of our sakes. Anyone hungry? We've got lobster, salmon, tuna, crab, oysters, and some seaweed."

While everyone got settled down and started eating, Xandou said, "Thanks, for helping us out today Sis."

SW gasped loudly and dramatically. "Xandou Tiraken? Thanking people?"

"Har har." Xandou bite back. "Hey, if I can change a little, maybe you can too."

"You think there's hope?" SW asked Xhiva.

"Pretty big chance, I see." He replied, just as SW levitated a piece of lobster to herself.

"Hey!" Xandou exclaimed playfully. "That was mine!"

"I know." SW said laughing at her brother's expense.

"Aren't you gonna give it back?" Xandou asked.

"Make me." She dangled the lobster like a piece of yarn to a kitten and proceded to eat the confection.

* * *

**RESTORATION**

* * *

At the Griffith University Campus, Chris and Zoe were walking down the sidewalk, already enveloped in today's adventure.

"I can't believe you go to this university!" Zoe exclaimed.

"Yeah it's pretty cool." said Chris laughing. They looked at the building they were at, and it was Baker Hall, Chris' dorm hall. And at this point, the mermaid and the land boy knew their day together was setting like the sun above.

"Well Chris." said Zoe dejectedly. "I better get back to my family."

"Is there a way we can stay in touch?" asked Chris.

"Not exactly." Zoe said, scratching her head.

"Facebook?" Chris asked.

"Mm-mm." Zoe shook her head.

"Instagram?" asked Chris.

"Nope."

"Twitter?"

"Nope."

"Payphone?"

"No."

"Not even a letter?"

"And still no."

Chris looked at his friend, in a puzzled expression. "Do you live in a cave or something?"

Zoe couldn't really contain her laughter as she thought to herself, _It's funny you say that._ Once she got a hold of herself, she wiped her tears away. "Yeah, you wouldn't understand where I live."

"Well then," Chris looked down sullenly. "I guess this is it for us."

"Not today." Without a second to spare, Zoe had embrace Chris in a kiss, which he gladly returned as they broke apart. "Bye Chris."

Chris could only watch the petite brunette dissapear into the night, leaving only a mystery as to whether she would return.

"Don't worry, mate." said Karl behind him. "She'll be back."

Chris scoffed at his roomate. "Because true love conquers all?"

"Nope." Karl fished out of his pocket, a dark blue cap. "She left her hat."


	7. Recipies for Disasters and Success

On a bright Wednesday afternoon, classes of Suncoast High were in session including the Geometry class taught by Ms. Lamarca, who was writing the word, Vectors on the board.

"Who here knows what this word means?" She asked the anxious class (most were anxious because lunch was next period)

No one got up to answer, either because they were bored out of their mind, or because they didn't know.

That was until one kid in his signature orange cap came up and sat on Ms. Lamarca's desk in a dramatic entrance.

"Vector!" Diablo exclaimed, making the Vulcan sign with both of his hands. "That's me! Cause I'm committing crimes! With both direction, and magnitude! Oh yeah!" He made several dramatic hand gestures as he spoke.

The class immediately went into a flurry of laughter with Diablo bowing and saying, "Thank you, thank you."

"Diablo." said Ms. Lamarca who was trying to fight a smile. "Sit down, please."

"Will do!" He saluted and went back to his seat in the front row.

"Now as Diablo's..explanation provided…" Ms. Lamarca continued to speak while Helen whispered to Diablo,

"Nice going, Jason Segel."

"Damn, I've been waiting to make that reference." He said flashing his signature devil smile, per to his name.

"Speaking of waiting." said Helen. "Have you seen Raiden? Jackass didn't show up two hours ago and we've got a presentation last hour."

Diablo shrugged his shoulders. "Don't ask me." He said. "Last time I saw him he was out for a swim, which would make it the fourth time this week he's done that."

"Diablo, Helen." said Ms. Lamarca. "Is there something you would like to share with the class?"

"No." Helen said quickly. The teacher gave the Omega mermaid a look before resuming her lecture.

But suddenly, Diablo and Helen's phones pinged as they received a text, a text from one Raiden Consorzio.

_Can one of you be a really good friend and open the window?_

The Alpha and Omega merteens looked around until they stopped at the windows to the side of the school, which was a pretty good fall down to the school parking lot.

Perched on one of the windows, was Raiden himself, putting on his best face and shining in his rebel glory.

 _What are you doing?_ Helen texted Raiden.

 _Looking for pigeons._ He replied.  _Just get me in before anyone sees me._

_Hang tight, Eel Boy._

Pursing her lips,, Helen walked up to the window and opened it, Raiden dropping on the floor with his own two feet like a cat.

But it wasn't until he finally sat down in his seat that the teacher finally noticed he had shown up.

"Raiden Consorzio." said Ms. Lamarca sternly. "If I have to report your unacceptable tardiness one more time, you will be suspended."

Just then, the bell rang, initiating the kids to escape from the confinements of their classroom in a frenzy, just to get the first spot in the lunch line.

"Raiden" Ms. Lamarca called out while she was wiping the board clean. "A word."

"Ooh." said Diablo. "You're in trouble."

As soon as the entire class filled out, save for Raiden, it was just him and the teacher all alone.

"Raiden, this is becoming a problem." She said. "You've been late to classes, even skipping some of my classes and what's worse, you completely ignored your grades."

"That's because when it comes to grades, I don't really care." said Raiden nonchalantly. "Call me back when you find something worth of my time."

"You bet it's worth of your time." said Ms. Lamarca. "Raiden, this is an issue, since the day you moved here, you have averaged a D in this class. I get you have friends and social circles but that does not mean you get to slack off."

"Two words." said Raiden. "School sucks."

"Too bad." said Ms. Lamarca. "And Raiden, don't treat this so lightly, this is a real issue at hand. Now, I will give you one last warning. If I see you are at least 2 minutes late to my next class, you will be suspended!"

* * *

As soon as everyone left for lunch, they went to their respectful friends or cliques. Everyone was either wandering about the campus grounds or completely immersed in their conversations while finishing their food.

Thalie was looking at some notes and eating a kelp sandwich when she felt two arms embrace her and saw a tanned arm grab a piece of her kelp.

"Delicious." said a familiar voice.

"Charming entrance, Raiden." said Thalie. Her boyfriend gave a soft chuckle as he sat next to his girlfriend.

"Ah you know me so well,  _mia perla_." said Raiden. "But God, sometimes I just can't help myself. Speaking of which, that kelp you're eating now? That's nothing. I found this really great kelp forest just a few miles off the South Island. Thick, fresh and easy for picking."

"You found the perfect place for a picnic/date." Thalie finished while smiling.

Raiden gave a smirk before placing a kiss on the halfblood's cheek. "Bingo. So, you in?"

Thalie looked at Raiden with regret. "Raiden, I wish I could but you may have noticed I've taken a week off two of my lives to focus on my school one."

"Yeah, some sort of test on Friday." said Raiden.

"Yep" said Thalie. "This is a really big History test which will pretty much set the rest of my final grade. So in other words, I can't go on long swims, I can't do patrol because I've been studying all week."

"See, this is why I hate school." said Raiden. "No one gets to have fun."

"I don't particularly like it too, Raiden." said Thalie. "But that's the price you pay for getting an education."

"Education, scmeducation." Raiden waved his hand. "Come on, Thals. Please?"

"I'm sorry Raiden." said Thalie dejectedly. "I really am sorry. Tell you what, once Friday is over, we can go on that date Saturday. Visit all the spots on the reef you wish." She kissed him on the cheek. "Promise."

The couple smiled at each other before leaning in for a kiss.

"Speaking of tests," said Thalie, taking a bite out of her sandwich. "Don't you have one to study for? I heard you're in Biology. They've got some sort of quiz Friday."

"Wait, I take Biology?" Raiden asked in a perplexed state.

* * *

When lunch ended and everyone went to class, the PA system sparked to life and Rita's voice sounded throughout the hallway:

"Would Raiden Consorzio please report to the office?"

Scowling in embarrassment, he went to a corner and turned invisible, lightning covering his body until he was out of sight to the naked eye.

He made his way to the principal's office completely undetected until he was near the door.

"Ah, Raiden." Rita greeted warmly. "Come in."

"Ok, the blueberry juice bomb, was not me." said Raiden.

"I know." said Rita. "Wait, do you know who was responsible for that?"

"Nope." said Raiden.

"Alright then." said Rita, fishing out a piece of paper. "Take a look at this."

The Italian-Canadian merman took the paper and after just a mere few seconds he whistled at the sight of the grades on it-which were all D's and F's in pretty much everything.

"Wow." Raiden said mockingly. "I wonder what sore loser has these grades."

Rita chuckled, giving the 16 year old a pointed look (his birthday is March 9). It didn't take him long to realize what she was talking about, that those horrible grades, were  **his**  horrible grades.

"I'm the sore loser." He muttered.

"Now Raiden," said Rita. "I've spoken to your teachers and half the time you aren't even in class. But when you are, you either play with your phone, stare off into space, or talk to the other children. In other words, you are under performing egregiously."

"I'm sorry, who said that?" Raiden asked incredulously.

"All of them." said Rita.

"Look, I have put up with going to school." said Raiden. "Yes, I really hate land school but I don't see why everyone is making such a big deal about this. It's just a few marks."

"They are  **not** just a few marks." said Rita sternly. "I know you're only a sophomore, but this is about you deciding, are you part of this community? Do you want to go to college? Do you  **care** about the work or is the easy way better? That's what you have to decide."

"What if I feel like quitting school?" Raiden asked challengingly.

"Ah but your mother left specific instructions to keep you from doing so." said Rita ignoring Raiden's cry of protest. "And consider this, if you fail, you may be held back a year. If being a sophomore was boring once, imagine doing it again."

"My mother blocked me from dropping out?" Raiden asked.

"And suggested this meeting." said Rita. "I will give you until the middle of May to show me what you have, so if you don't start making progress, then I will have no choice but to ask Thalie to suspend you from your...nightly activities, and your mother will also suspend your clan visitation rights. And I will enroll you in summer school"

"What?!" Raiden asked. "This is so not happening." He pressed his hand against his forehead.

"And by progress, I mean being present for class," said Rita. "Doing your homework  **and** at least studying the best you can for tests."

"I can't believe this is happening." Raiden growled, picking up his backpack and exited the room muttering a string of French curses.

"And watch the language!" said Rita as he slammed the door.

* * *

Even when night fell, the Ocean Cafe was busy with customers pouring in and out for either a late night snack or the evening meal.

Well, as normal as evening meals could get, especially if you're a mermaid. And mentioning so, Ondina drummed her fingers on the table as she waited for her order. Since her sea sponge cordial supply was running dry and she was due to collect her new catch soon, she'd thought she could skip one dose of her pregnancy cravings medicine to satisfy them.  _Might as well get it out of the way once in a while_. She thought.

And when a pregnant woman craved something, she was dedicated and would not be denied.

"Here you go." Carly handed Ondina her strange request of a juice. "Chocolate Milkshake with oyster and lemon juice." Her nose wrinkled at the mention of the strange concoction while Ondina licked her lips and took it, sipping it with great delight.

"I swear your tastes in meals are becoming as bad as your cooking." said Carly.

"Hey I'm still learning!" Ondina protested. "Besides, my stew wasn't  **that** bad."

"Sea urchin stew with catfish tails?" Carly asked rhetorically. "David and I had a field day, tending to the taste buds of those who came running in here, begging for mercy."

"I was trying something new!" said Ondina annoyed.

"What is up with you, ordering this kind of disgusting crap?" Carly asked. "You've been ordering strange foods for the past week. I know you're trying to learn how to cook but this is ridiculous."

"Just something I'd thought I try out." said Ondina.

"So what's going on?" Carly asked.

"Other than my teaching job, nothing much." said Ondina.

After a pregnant pause, Carly asked with a concerned voice,"Is everything ok? Is there something wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Onidna said quickly and resumed sipping her strange drink. "Everything's ok."

As Carly walked away, she took note that with her enhanced hearing, she heard Ondina's heart rate increase a bit as she gave her answers but it had skyrocketed to a banging drum.

Even if Carly knew she was hiding something, she didn't know what to do. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, save for her cravings.

Not sure what to do, she ignored it and went back to work.

* * *

With her final piece of the day's work finished, Queen Persephone wiped some sweat off her brow before swimming to the Royal Chambers of the Central Island to get ready for bed. It had been a difficult day but the results were worth it. Now, if she could just find a healer to help the Tauna Pack's Alpha. She could go, but who would have watched over the kingdom? She didn't want to place such a burden on her niece and youngest son, since her eldest was studying to lead their people when he was ready. Zoe could probably go, but the problem was, she didn't have the necessary knowledge to examine an unknown illness and create a cure for it.

Rita...could probably go, but who would watch the school she worked at?

"Uh, Mother?"

She turned around and saw Raiden sitting on the edge of the rock bed she hoped to lie in sooner but she put her fatigue aside, for as always, her children came first.

"Raiden." She greeted, brushing her hair over her eye patch. "I must say I'm surprised to see you here on a school night."

"Oh funny you mention school." He snapped at his mother.

"Raiden, what is this?" asked Persephone.

"What is  **this**?" Raiden asked. "What the hell, Mom? Did you ask Rita to take a look at my grades?"

"Yes," said the Canadian mermaid, who was taking off her jewelry. "Yes I did. And I have to say I was fairly disappointed."

"Oh fairly?" Raiden asked. "Tell me, do you call asking Rita to get up in my ass fair? Is you interfering in my life fair?"

"I interfere because I care, Raiden." said Persephone, her voice building up slowly. "I'm your mother."

"Well then can't you see that we have our own privacy here?" Raiden asked vehemently. "Why don't you mind your own business?"

Persephone, who was in the process of removing her earrings, slammed her hand on the water and shouted, "Because, Raiden,  **you are** my business! I am trying to give you some semblance of being a normal boy! That's why I restricted your times in the clan to weekends and vacations only."

"Why did you make me continue high school if even you know I'm not normal even for merman standards and never will be?" asked Raiden impatiently.

"Because you need to be smart, consider your options in the future." Persephone managed to take a deep breath and not lose her temper while she put on her night bra, which was a bra consisted of sewn seaweed. "What if you don't want to go back to the sea and stay there? What if you want to go to college? What if you want to get a job, settle down and raise a family? To do that, you need to at least graduate from high school. And obviously, you can't do that if you continue being the lazy slob you are."

"Your Majesty?" One of the female guards came in. "Your niece has scheduled a meeting at first light with a Rita Santos?"

"Tell her I'll be there." Queen Persephone dismissed the guard and turned back to her teenage son. "Raiden, I know you're frustrated but it's late and you have school tomorrow as well as a test to study for."

"Mother-"

"Raiden Antonio." Persephone put her hand up. "Questa conversazione è finita."  **(This conversation is over.)**

"Bene allora!"  **(Fine then!)** He exclaimed in his native tongue, making a small dive in which his blue fin flapped against the ocean in irritation as he swam in his super-speed to his house.

* * *

**The next morning…**

Zoe had many guilty pleasures, but there was one that always pleased her because it came every day: a sunrise. Every chance she got, she would always greet such a moment during a morning swim. She always loved a sunrise because not only was it beautiful in the ocean, but it also brought the promise of a new day, where anything was possible; any opportunity could be taken as well as any risk and either way, she would always have tomorrow to look forward to.

This morning would be quite the culinary flashback as she was making a checkup on the South Island's crop plantation, where they grew all kinds of oceanic plants, such as seagrass, types of algae, seaweed and much more that were grown by the farmers of the clan.

While she was finishing a kelp settlement plan with a mermaid, she noticed something purple out of the corner of her eye. She could not contain the smile on her face.

"May I?" She asked the mermaid, gesturing to the plant.

"Certainly." Zoe smiled and dove down to the plant, examining it and recognizing it as a crucial ingredient to one of her favorite treats from when she lived in Canada.

When she surfaced she had a petal in her palm. "Sheila, do you mind if I take some? I'll pay you back later, I promise."

"Oh no, it's my pleasure!" said Sheila. "That settlement deal was most convenient with the high tide season already in, so I'm already satisfied with payment as it is."

"Thank you so much!" Zoe all but squealed in excitement, before diving to the depths and swimming to the moon pool to share her exciting news.

"Hi, Zoe!" Evie greeted once she rose to the surface.

"You are not gonna believe this." Zoe held out the petals. "I heard that some of the mermen are from the North and brought down with them some of their plants, and guess what was one of them?"

"That purple petal?" Ondina asked. "Yeah, that's  **really** exciting."

"Onda, ye of little insight." Zoe shook her head. "This petal is part of Arctic Sea Lavender, growing here in the Eastern Australian Coast. This plant's only found in the North Atlantic!"

"It's quite lovely." Evie noted. "I guess I could wear it as a hair accessory."

"Even better," said Zoe. "You can  **cook** with it."

"What could you possibly make from that?" Ondina asked.

"All sorts of things." said Zoe. "But my favorite treat from this plant is two words: Arctic. Marshmallow."

"I love the sound of that!" said Evie.

"You'll love the taste even better!" Zoe added on. "We can cook when Ondina's at her break."

"Good, because I need to get to school anyway." said Evie. "Save me some?"

The black/silver clad mermaid only chuckled. "No promises."

Evie rolled her eyes before swimming out of the cave.

"If it's as good as you say," said Ondina. "We could always tell her it didn't work and eat it all ourselves."

"And by 'we', you mean 'you'?" Zoe countered. "After what happened to the cake at my 10th birthday party, I'm not taking any chances."

"That was only one time, Zoe." Ondina retorted, annoyed. "One, time!"

* * *

**Suncoast High School**

**A few hours later…**

Biology in Suncoast used to be full of fun and mystery until a few years ago, Mr. Ham, the original teacher, suffered a nervous breakdown and was replaced by the teacher even the principal hated-Dolores Trumble. Every student called her 'Ms. Trouble' although rumor has it that it was Ms. Santos who started that name.

Raiden might have gone up to her office and applauded her for that if he wasn't busy glaring at last week's test his teacher just slapped into his hands.

"An F?" He asked incredulously. "Come on, I never even took that test!"

"Exactly, why." Ms. Trumble sneered at him. "And unless you start showing up to class, the more assignments you miss, the more F's you're going to see and you may as well get kicked out of school. Not that anyone would even care if you were gone."

"Excuse me?" He asked. "Who do you think you are, you pompous…"

"Enough!" Ms. Trumble exclaimed. "That is my warning. One more outburst and you'll find yourself in detention from now until next month."

Raiden sat back down and stared at the board while Ms. Trumble went on in her lecture, wishing he could do something to show her that no one tells Raiden Antonio Bauman-Consorzio where his value lies.

* * *

**At Mako Island...**

Queen Persephone had just finished a line of work and was onto the next when she spotted Zoe swimming next to her. Smiling at her niece, she surfaced along with Zoe.

"What's up?" Zoe asked.

"What do you mean?" Persephone asked.

"You're doing that thing when you're worried about something and your  **eye** is looking down." Zoe gestured to said remaining eye that was doing said action.

"Me and Raiden," She began. "We had a fight last night."

"Anything I should worry about?" Zoe asked, all ready to protect her baby cousin.

"Just that his grades are slipping and that he doesn't seem to care." said Persephone.

"Well that's what us teenagers do." said Zoe. "The exact opposite of what their parents expect."

"I know Zoe but," She dragged her hand on her face. "I didn't mean to but I called him a lazy slob and he is anything but that. I don't know what happened, it just came out. I just hope I didn't put too much pressure on him. I mean I want him to do well but…"

"But first you got to relax." said Zoe. "I mean, Raiden's a tough kid, and I know that once he puts his mind to something, he always looks for a way to do it even when he gives up."

"I just hope whatever way he chooses isn't going to be something he regrets." said the Canadian mermaid."

* * *

**At Suncoast High…**

Lunch soon came around and Raiden found himself sitting along, trying to memorize 'his' notes for the Biology test the next day. If he didn't study, he was a dead fish.

"Hey Raiden." He looked up and saw Rose standing next to him. "Sorry about Ms. Trumble humiliating you like that."

"Oh please." Raiden chuckled. "She's nothing compared to some of my teachers in the past."

"You know, I used to think that mean teachers were evil aliens sent to torture kids from outer space." The 16 year old sat down, making sure her dress wasn't too wrinkled. "I think my theory might be right with Trumble."

Raiden sniggered at his best friends wit. "So how do you guys do it?" Raiden asked. "How do you manage to be Windglider, the Omega Mermaid of Air, maintain a cooking job and be up to date with your work here?"

"Have you never considered why there's never really all of us on patrol unless it's a serious emergency?" Rose asked. "Some of us show up because they can, and some can't because they can't. I mean, during the day I keep OK grades, a 3 hour shift at 4 times a week and you know the rest. But it's not easy."

"Can't you drop out and join Alma Mater in the clan?" Raiden asked. "I mean, that's gotta be better than being here."

"I'd be experiencing  **your**  humiliation there." said Rose. "I'd be getting F's like you."

"Did not ask to be reminded but thanks." said Raiden dejectedly.

"You just need to study smarter, not harder." said Rose.

"How's that?" He asked.

"For starters, you could get a tutor." She said.

"I would but Kimi's out on some college visit and Thalie's studying for her big exam." said Raiden.

"I'm free, you know." said Rose.

"Seriously?" Raiden asked. "You would come over to my house and help me study?"

"Oh I don't know," Rose said, checking her phone. "Let me check my schedule, YES!"

"Less screaming, please." Raiden held his ears.

"Sorry." She smiled sheepishly. "Old habits. But hey, don't you worry. I'll have the stuff for the quiz memorized by the end of the day so then you can pick me up and take me to your place."

"How can you memorize all that in 3 hours?" asked Raiden.

"Oh I've got a photographic memory." Rose answered almost immediately, looking at Raiden's surprised expression. "What? Didn't I mention that?"

* * *

**In the grotto…**

Zoe had just finished preparing the ingredients for Arctic Marshmallow, save for the oysters Ondina was to bring. She checked the clock on the shelf nearby and drummed her fingers on the rock surface wondering where her best friend was.

"Sorry I'm late." Ondina came in with a tray of old oysters. "Some kids were giving me a hard time."

"Ah those little monsters." said Zoe. "You gotta love them even though at most times, they're a pain in the fin."

"You deal with kids too?" Ondina asked hopefully.

"No, and after seeing yours," said Zoe. "Not gonna happen."

The girls chuckled while Ondina with one hand put the oysters in the bowl with the lavender, and had the other pinching her nose to avoid the rancid smell coming from the shells.

"What are you doing?" Ondina asked Zoe who then started to cool the water with her powers.

"I need to chill the water to the exact temperature of the Beaufort Sea in late December." She replied.

"Can't be worse than the Mediterranean in Early February." Ondina added on.

"Uh I would beg to differ since the Beaufort Sea is right near the ever freezing Arctic Circle." Zoe retorted. "It's ready when ice starts to form."

"Oh in that case," said Ondina. "I can give you a hand there."

"No." said Zoe, pushing Ondina's hand down. "Too fast, and we'll freeze the lavender and crack the shells. It has to be cooled gradually."

Ondina sighed impatiently. "How long is that gonna take?"

"Until that," Zoe pointed to the hourglass, where the sand was still falling in there. "Runs out. Any longer and you risk the polar bears smelling it."

"Polar bears?" Ondina repeated curiously.

"They  **adore** Arctic Marshmallow." said Zoe. "You have to make it and get away before they can smell it and eat it faster than you can say 'Oh Shit'."

"Since it smells like shit," said Ondina. "I'm surprised even polar bears are interested."

About an hour passed and soon it came for the next step.

"The temperature's right." said Zoe. "It's ready."

"I don't see any marshmallow fluff." said Ondina.

"No," said Zoe. "It's ready for the special ingredient." She went to the shelf and grabbed a jar of what looked like white powder. "Dried plankton from the Baltic sea."

"What does that do?" asked Ondina.

"When it gets to the right temperature," Zoe explained as she opened the jar. "The flavors from the lavender and the shells start to transfer. But the plankton stops the process before it goes too far."

"Is that possible?" Ondina muttered. "I'd wanna get rid of these flavors all together."

"Nearly there." Zoe peered at the dissipating sand in the hourglass and at the second the last grain fell, Zoe dropped a pinch of the plankton into the mixture, smoke clearing up to reveal a pink fluffy content in the bowl. "And that, is how you make Arctic Marshmallow. Care to taste, Onda?"

"What happens if you don't throw that stuff in at the right moment?" asked Ondina as she took a spoonful of the marshmallow."

"The flavors continue to transfer and you end up with some foul tasting goo." Zoe replied.

As the girls tried the treat, Ondina's taste buds exploded in joy at the sweetness of it. "Oh my God, it's amazing! It's tart, yet sweet." Unfortunately, Ondina's pregnancy cravings, said otherwise. "But it's not quite sweet enough. I should make it, maybe add something to it."

"Ondina, this is a delicate recipe." said Zoe. "You can't add things to it or else it'll be a pile of crap."

"It looked pretty easy to me." said Ondina. "And hey, if you can do it, so can I."

"I'd like to see you try." said Zoe. "But given your skill set and your hubris, I'd say that would take a century to get it right."

"Get it right?" Ondina repeated. "You think I can't cook, don't you?"

"Let me spell this out for you, dear foster sister of mine." said Zoe. "If awful and terrible had a baby, it would be your cooking."

"Oh, is that how it's gonna be?" Ondina challenged. "I will make this, first thing tomorrow!"

"Gee, I can't wait!" Zoe exclaimed sarcastically.

* * *

**At the Home Base**

**A few hours later….**

After school ended, Raiden and Rose went to his house, to do some prime-time studying. Rose, of course was already to help, she didn't have much homework and her shift was at 5 that night.

But for Raiden, his patience was almost as worse as Xandou's when she went over the test materials and quizzed him. No matter what, Raiden couldn't understand what goes where in the body, and why there were so many things to memorize.

"Raiden, you can do it." The Air Omega mermaid egged the Lightning Omega.

"Lysosomes do…." He drummed his fingers on his chin with Rose peering at him. "They merge the nucleus and the…"

"That's not it Raiden." said Rose. "Lysosomes break down waste material."

"It's been forever since we went over that." said Raiden.

"Actually, it's only been 3 minutes." Rose said, checking her watch.

Raiden cursed in French flopping down on the couch. "That doesn't mean I'm gonna actually know it. God, I can leap buildings, I can create a storm with the wave of my hand, I'm a licensed pilot, and I can take down monsters and rogues, but why can't I do this?"

"Because you're being too hard on yourself." said Rose. "Try thinking it in a different way, try to understand the information instead of shoving it down your throat. Just believe in yourself."

"Of course I'm being hard on myself." said Raiden. "And Rose, this isn't about self esteem, this is about passing that damn test."

"See, this is why I like to see the bright side of things ok?" said Rose. "Positivity, people!"

"The only positive thing I can think of is my desire to have your brain." said Raiden.

"There's a spell I've never tried." Rose muttered.

Instantly, Raiden shot up like a cannon and turned to face his friend. "A spell?"

"Yeah." Rose replied. "Remember when we were spring cleaning this place and I had the library? Well I noticed there were scrolls tucked in there, so I got curious and used Google Translate to read one of the, that fell on the floor. It was some sort of knowledge transference spell."

Those last three words, were all Raiden needed to formulate a plan. "Wait, you mean there's a spell for sharing knowledge, for uploading information from one person to another?"

"Well that is the general idea." said Rose. "And before you ask, no I'm not gonna use this spell to help you cheat that test."

"What?" He exclaimed. "Come on, we're Omegas, but we still can cast spells. Not all, of them but still."

"Raiden, I don't feel like this is such a good idea." said Rose.

"Give me one reason." said Raiden.

"I'll give you three." said Rose. "Uno, I've never done the spell before, Dos, you could get busted since Rita can recognize a spell from a mile away, and Tres, if I try this now, I could probably melt your brain into goo."

"Um," Raiden retorted. "You won't know if you won't try. Dois, I'm not gonna get caught. Ex-criminal, remember? E, três, again, now's a good time to try."

"This is still a very bad idea, Raiden." said Rose.

"Rose, you don't get it." He took her by the shoulders. "I'm on the edge of the line as it is. If I fail one more test, I'm a dead fish. I'll get thrown off the Creed and my mom will kill me then dance on my grave."

"I think you're exaggerating." said Rose.

"Maybe I am," He said. "Or maybe I'm not. I don't know what else to do. Help me out here." He then hugged her. "You're a really amazing friend Rosalina, and it would kill me if I didn't get to see you brighten up the day with your jokes and smile while I'm in summer school. Don't you want all of us to have a really good summer vacation? You know, friends forever?"

It was no secret that Rosalina was very sweet and trusting to anyone she knew and also a bit gullible. She loved making people smile and seeing them happy, especially her friends. She would do anything to help them if they were in trouble. And that was what made it so easy for Raiden to get Rose to do what he wanted.

"Ok." said Rose, walking him back. "But stand very still."

The merboy nodded and Rose stepped back, cracking her knuckles and performed a series of hand movements that almost looked like air. Mist swirled her fingertips as her eyes glowed pink and she performed the final step of the spell, and sent a small black into Raiden's forehead.

"That's it?" Raiden asked skeptically.

"Uh, I think so." said Rose. "Let's see if it worked." She went back to her chair and opened up the Biology textbook. "Ok, what is the primary function of vacuoles?"

'They're these little parts of the cell that…" Raiden pointed his finger in the air. "I think I got it." A minute passed and then, "No I don't."

"Sorry, Raiden." said Rose. "Well at least your brain isn't goo, so that's good."

"Thanks for trying anyway." said Raiden getting his bookbag and his Biology textbook, making his way towards the stairs. "You better get going, looks like I'm in for an all nighter."

"I'm really sorry I couldn't help." She said dejectedly. "I tried."

"Hey, it's ok." said Raiden warmly. "You tried your best."

The pair smiled at each other before going their separate ways, one to his room, the other to her house. But it wasn't until the next morning that they realized the consequences of their irrational mistake.

* * *

**The next morning...**

"Hey Diablo!" Xhiva ran upstairs with his superspeed. "Have you seen the keys to the SUV?"

"Don't ask me." Diablo called from his room. "I'm taking the paw terrain today." A lion's roar could be heard from behind one of the five doors (one was a guest room, another was where Xhiva slept, another was Xandou's room, another was Diablo's, and the last was what used to be Erik and Raiden's room but it was now just Raiden who occupied it .)

"Doesn't surprise me." said Xhiva. "Also guys, breakfast is ready in 5."

"Please tell me it's not your cooking." Raiden's voice could be heard.

"Yeah, I'd rather jump into a shark pit than deal with  **that** again." Xandou called from the bathroom, then eventually coming out with a towel wrapped around his bare waist.

"No it was not." The Hindu skinned merman huffed. "And come on guys, it was a slight miscalculation in the ingredients."

"Which of you fish idiots stole my deodorant ag-AAH?!" Raiden screamed from his closed door.

"What?" Xhiva asked. "Did a bird fly in again?"

"No." Raiden called from his room, where he was hiding himself from his friends, because when he looked in the mirror, he nearly fainted. His usual medium length brown hair was now blonde and long with it's wavy strands reaching down to his shoulders, making him look rather effeminate.

In this state, he would rather a bird to land on his head, than have his new look nest on it.

* * *

**In the grotto…**

Ready to prove her worth, 17 year old Ondina Durant-Marino gathered all the ingredients, with the help of her best friend, Zoe of course, to make her own version of Arctic Marshmallow.

A tiny voice was nagging her in the back of her head saying,'Ondina, listen and learn. Don't let your hubris get the better of you.'

But as usual, Ondina pushed that rational part out of her train of thought, and set out the ingredients and bowl.

"Are you sure you don't want my help?" Zoe asked for what Ondina assumed to be the 15th time that morning.

"For the last time Zoe," Ondina groaned. "I. Am.  **Fine**. Eu sou bem, também?"  **(I'm fine ok?)**

"If you say so." said Zoe. "Just remember, it's not as easy as you may think."

"It's the simplest recipe in the world." said Ondina, pointing to each ingredient as she listed each step. "I just combine the arctic sea lavender and shells, chill until there's ice, add the plankton and hey! Arctic Marshmallow."

"Again," said Zoe. "It's not as easy as you make it sound."

"And again," Ondina countered. "I will be fine."

"If you insist." said Zoe, grabbing her purse from a coat hanger near the door.

"Where are you going?" Ondina asked the departing teen.

"While you're busy trying to make Arctic Marshmallow." said Zoe. "I'm heading out to the cafe to get a nice pineapple juice."

"Wait-"

"Yes, Onda?" Zoe said in a teasing manner. "You sure you won't burn down the grotto?"

"I'll be fine." said Ondina.

"Then quit stalling and get cooking." she said. "Don't say I didn't warn you." Zoe finished in a sing-song voice.

* * *

**At Suncoast High…**

When the morning bell rang, the students all fumbled from their lockers to their classrooms, filling the hallways with about as much people as water in a lake. Which made the perfect cover for Raiden, whose "new look" was tucked away in a hoodie he borrowed from Xandou, after he paid him with his breakfast of course. After being humiliated in front of his friends, he would be dead meat if he showed his locks to the school.

But what even his trained senses didn't realize was that from a wall from where Raiden was hiding, an invisible force grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the boys bathroom.

Raiden thanked his father's spirit for the bathroom being empty because the invisible person who had made him look like he was being carried by some spirit, was an angry Rosalina Gomez.

"You realize this is where boys go to-"

"First, please don't finish that sentence." Rose held her hand up. "Second, you've got something of mine on your head."

It was by then that he noticed that Rose's hair was covered in a blue cap. He had heard of Rose's rare temper. She was sweet as pie no doubt, but when she was angry, she was a tornado instead of a gentle breeze.

"What?" He asked playing dumb.

"Oh don't tell me what." said Rose. "Cause I'll tell you what, that's what!"

Raiden looked at the fuming Latina in confusion. "That makes no sense."

"You know what else doesn't make sense?" Rose challenged. "This!" She ripped off her cap to show that her hair was now short medium brown hair with golden streaks in them. Raiden took off his hoodie and let the blond locks loose down his shoulder.

"No shit." said Raiden. "You realize this is your fault."

"My fault?" Rose retorted. "Oh sure, blame the mermaid who actually cast the freaking spell when it was you who talked me into it in the first place!"

"How come you never practiced this before?" said Raiden.

"Maybe it's because I never had an excuse!"

"You did and you screwed it up because instead of getting knowledge," He played with "his" hair. "And by the way, you use way too much shampoo."

"Oh, forget that," said Rose. "We need to get this fixed, ASAP."

"You got that right." said Raiden. "Can't you just do it again?"

"No." said Rose firmly. "I'm not repeating that spell, it'll only make it worse." Just before Raiden could speak, the warning bell rang loudly for everyone to hear. "We've got to get to class. Your test is first period and that's now."

"You cast a spell on me that doesn't really work and now you're sending me to my doom?" Raiden asked. "What did I do to you?"

"You're on the line, Raiden." She replied. "If you miss even this class, they could kick you out."

Raiden groaned putting his head in his hands and muttered, "Let's just get this over with."

* * *

**In the Grotto…**

Ondina was in the middle of chilling the water to the right temperature, waiting for the ice to form. One of her biggest concerns was if the water was cold enough, as she had never swum in the Beaufort Sea.

 _You know in retrospect, maybe I should have asked Zoe to help me._  A tiny voice spoke to her in the back of her head.  _No, you can do this. You're Ondina. There's nothing you can't do. I mean, you swam in the Mediterranean when the Great Freeze hit in '03. How cold can the Arctic be?_

Just then, her stomach growled, but thankfully it wasn't a sign she wasn't gonna throw up.

"Ugh I hate being pregnant." She said to herself. "One minute I puke, the next I'm hungry." Which of course, happened to be what the mermaid was feeling. But hungry for what?

She looked at the mixture and said, "It needs to be sweet. Maybe I can add some sugar? No, I'm not doing anything that Zoe didn't."

Ondina didn't know whether it was just her pregnancy cravings or it was somehow the baby's way trying to talk to her, but she suddenly got the strongest urge she ever had to get some pure sugar. "Alright." Casting a spell with her moon ring, she went to the kitchen. It took some time but finally she found the jar containing the sweet powder and ran back to the grotto, where the bowl was still cooling by itself.

Not sure what to do, she removed the spell and resumed the cooling herself.

* * *

**In Ms. Trumble's classroom…**

When class came around, and Ms. Trumble was handing out quiz papers, Rose and Raiden very carefully took their seats while blending in with the crowd. It was a good thing Rose was smart enough to tie Raiden's new look in a bun so some of the strands wouldn't get out. Unfortunately, Ms. Trumble caught on their attempted disguise in a flash.

"Cap and hood off please." said the pompous teacher. "This is not a sporting event."

"Sorry Ms. Trumble." Rose spoke up. "I've got bit by a spider yesterday on my scalp. It's super ugly and could possibly get infected if I don't protect it from air or sunlight."

"You have the same condition?" Ms. Trumble asked Raiden.

"Dandruff." He responded quickly.

"Perhaps the head concealments are best left where they are." Ms. Trumble shoved down her disgust down her throat. "Moving on, you all can turn over your pages. You have 40 minutes starting, now."

While the other students began taking their test, Raiden just sat in his seat, rubbing his temples in embarrassment. He had been the subject of a magical intellectual performance enhancer and all it did was give him so much hair, he wondered how Rose managed to keep it together when she was in her tail form and when she was in her suit. It must be a secret girl thing, he guessed.

He continued to rub his temples for some time, until he felt a sudden truckload of pain in his head and swore. To him, it felt like the time he had gotten that big concussion when he was 12.

"Raiden Consorzio." Ms. Trumble called from her desk. "If I hear one more profoundly inappropriate word, you will find yourself failing that test."

Raiden rolled his eyes that he didn't realize had turned from purple to hazel, and looked back on his test.  _Wait, this is easy_. Without further hesitation, he filled in the test questions almost the same way Rose did, but he didn't know that.

Speaking of said mermaid, she was looking at the test in complete confusion with her now purple eyes.

 _What is this?_ Rose thought to herself. " _I know this stuff, so how come I'm thinking blank?_

About half an hour passed, and Raiden with confidence, marched up to Ms. Trumble's desk and slammed the test on the desk.

Ms. Trumble looked at the boy strangely. "Yes?" She asked slowly.

"I'm all done." He replied

"Is that so?" asked Ms. Trumble.

"Why don't you check the paper and see for yourself?" said Raiden.

After taking the packet from his hand and examining it, Ms. Trumble told him he could walk back to his seat, but as he sat down, she eyed him suspiciously, and then looked at the score she had just put down:

85%

 _Something is wrong with that boy._ She thought.  _And I am going to get to the bottom of it._ And she wasn't the only suspicious character, as Xhiva peered at him suspiciously even as the bell rang.

* * *

"Ok what the hell was that?" Xhiva asked Raiden once they stepped outside.

"What was what?" Raiden asked back. "I took the test and it's out of my way."

"True," said Xhiva. "Except I saw you take your time on that test. Raiden Consorzio,  **never** wastes his time on school!" The teenage boy peered closer at Raiden's new eyes and backed away when he saw what his hoodie was trying to hide. "Oh My God. What did you do?"

"I didn't do nothin, man." Raiden pushed down his best friend's arm. Xhiva peered around the hallway until he used his mind link to ask Xandou to bring Rose and have them meet in the storage closet.

"Ok what's the big deal?" Xandou asked.

"This." Xhiva removed Rose's cap.

"Wait a minute," said Xandou. "Different hair, different eyes, and Raiden scoring an 85 on his test?"

"Please tell me you didn't use the spell I think you used." Xhiva groaned.

"Read my mind, brother." Xandou rubbed his temple.

"How did you?" Rose asked.

"Rose, they're Tirakens." Raiden said annoyed. "The spell you read from their shelves? It belongs to their family."

"You bet it does." said Xandou. "Centuries ago, one of our ancestors invented it and it was used as a quick getaway for information during espionage missions."

"Problem was, the Saraswati Spell was too complex for any one person to try, so about 40 years ago, it was banned in the family and was filed as one of the Forbidden Spells." said Xhiva. "7 years ago, me and Xan tried it ourselves on ourselves and..to say it went horribly wrong, would be putting it mildly."

"Speak for yourself, Xhiva." Xandou snapped at his brother. "I had to get my tattoos all over again."

Rose looked at her close friend in horror. "You had tattoos when you were 9?"

"That's not important." said Xandou. "We need to find a way to cure you guys before things get worse. Raiden, of all people to try this spell with, it  **had** to be a chick."

"So?" Raiden asked.

Just then, the doors burst open to reveal a scowling Helen. "Rose, not to interrupt your little chit chat session here, but where the hell were you? You're lucky Thalie was first and then had to rush her partner to the nurse."

"Partner?" Rose asked. "For what?"

"Our presentation." Helen answered. "For English, remember?"

"Yeah." said Raiden. "On Romeo and Juliet."

Helen looked at Raiden with perplexity written on her face. "How do you know that? You're not in that class."

"Helen, I appreciate your tenacity but from the looks of it, Rose is gonna have to skip that class today." said Xhiva.

"And why is that?" The Fire Omega asked.

* * *

**In the Grotto…**

Checking the hourglass, which had but a pinch of sand left, Ondina opened the glass jar containing the Baltic Sea Plankton and waited until the last grain of sand spilled to the bottom and poured a teaspoonful of the plankton.

But instead of solidifying into the pink fluffy substance that she desired, Ondina was splattered with green slime that caused her to fall down on the floor, in her tail form.

"Well, well, well." Zoe's voice rang eerily in the grotto like a church bell . "What do we have here?"

Ondina looked up to see Zoe causally standing there as if it were another day, sipping her watermelon juice.

"Ok, maybe adding sugar wasn't a good idea." Ondina mumbled.

Zoe only chuckled while she used her powers to dry Ondina's tail. "Now do you see why it's a good idea to follow the recipe?"

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" She asked her best friend.

Zoe tilted her head sideways and said, "Maybe."

Ondina merely rolled her eyes and cast her eyes downward upon her belly, where her unborn child sat unhappy that he/she did not get it's sweet food cravings satisfied. Ondina couldn't help but smile.

"I blame you for this." She muttered, sitting down on the couch.

"What?" Zoe asked from the table.

"Nothing." Ondina replied quickly.

* * *

**In the storage closet…**

"What do you mean they practically switched brains?" Helen asked her boyfriend's brother.

"Raiden, name her celebrity crush." said Xhiva.

The tanned purple clad teenager barely stiffened a laugh when he scrambled through his new memories for the answer. "You had a shrine dedicated to Taylor Lautner?"

From the horrified look on Helen's face, the rest of the gang did not know whether to smile or run from her in terror. Helen had never told anyone about her former crush on the movie star, except of course the girls and to this day, she was still embarrassed by how many photos she had of him.

"Oh Sweet Merciful Lord." Helen breathed out in sheer embarrassment. "Xhiva, not cool. But was this some sort of accident on patrol? Did a merperson use their powers to mess with your heads?"

"You wish." said Xandou. "These two numbskulls did this to themselves."

"Uh-you," Helen spluttered before taking a breath. "Why?"

"That doesn't matter." said Raiden. "What does matter, is you stalling your project. There's no way in hell she can pull this off now."

"Can't you do it yourself?" Xandou asked.

"Appreciate the vote of optimism, but if Rose doesn't show up, she fails this semester." said Helen.

"Is there a way to cure this?" The Air Omega asked. "I mean, things can't get worse."

Just in the nick of time, the PA system buzzed to life.

"Raiden Consorzio," Ms. Santos' voice spoke through the megaphone. "Please come to the office immediately."

The teen merfolk groaned with Raiden putting his hood back on and trodding begrudgingly out the door.

"Wait, shouldn't-" By the time Rose could continue with her sentence, Raiden was out the door.

"Oh yeah, Rose." said Xandou. "'Things can't possibly get worse' But guess what? They actually do! All because you spoke the forbidden sentence! And don't even say things couldn't get any worse, because they can! All it takes is one sentence and the-"

"Xandou!" The 15 year old Fire Omega pulled the exaggerate merman back. "We get it. Chill. By the way, Xhiva, how'd you know I had a celebrity crush?"

Xhiva merely smiled. "Please. Kimi is still a huge Potterhead and she told me she used to sleep with a picture of Tom Felton under her pillow."

"I remember that." Helen chuckled.

"Besides, did Xandou ever tell you he used to have a crush on Celine Dion?"

Xandou turned his face, which had blood rushing to his cheeks on his brother. "Says the guy whose idea of therapy is watching musicals."

* * *

On his way to the Principal's Office, Raiden couldn't help but feel slightly nervous. What if they discovered the illegal stash of imported gum he had kept in his locker? What if they found that he had gotten his essay on Les Miserables from the internet? Or worse, what if his mother was there and she'd be able to recognize the spell?

 _Nah_. He thought to himself.  _Just calm down. You wanna get yourself out of a tight spot? Play it cool. Get cool, bust cool, all that jazz._

"Oh great." Raiden whispered as he approached the door. "Now I have those songs stuck in my head. Thank you Xhiva for those movie nights."

Opening the door, he stepped inside the office to find thankfully not his mother, but Ms. Trumble and Ms. Santos.

"Come in Raiden." Ms. Santos said kindly while Ms. Trumble eyed the Italian-Canadian merboy like a hawk seeking it's prey.

"So what's this all about?" He asked.

"This." Ms. Trumble thrust his test into his hands.

"Wow." Raiden put on his best voice acting so as to fool both of the women in the room. "85 out of 100. This is kinda amazing, and still, why am I here?"

"Raiden, I don't mean any disrespect but-"

"I know you cheated." Ms. Trumble cut off her boss.

"What?" Raiden thanked his lucky stars that the Kanhoji Cult taught him how to be a good actor, especially when it came to covering his plans. "Ok, I sit in the first two rows in front of your desk and all I was using was my pencil to write and even you could see that. Bottom line, you can't prove it."

"I don't know what you did in there." Ms. Trumble sneered at the boy. "But I know you did some sort of trick to get that mark. And don't even try to say you just studied hard, because I checked your background and all I can say is, once a lying criminal always a lying criminal."

Raiden didn't back down, in fact, he raised his head and spoke in a cold haunting voice that could have rivaled Slade's. "Think about what what you want to say next,  _ **very**_ carefully."

"That's enough you two!" Rita exclaimed, bringing the two out of their heated confrontation. "Raiden, did you cheat?"

"No." He replied.

"Did you use any method at all to cheat?" Rita asked again.

"No." He replied.

"Are you sure you want to be lying now?" Rita asked carefully and slowly.

"Rita, I'm telling the truth." He insisted.

"There you go Delores." Rita said to Trumble. "Raiden has said his part so I see no reason to take this further."

"Oh but I can't help but wonder if there's another reason you don't wish to pursue the matter." Ms. Trumble said arrogantly. "I hear he's dating your daughter, yes? As a devoted mother, I'd imagine you'd do anything to make your daughter happy by holding back anything that threatens your position at this school. Even if that means calling in her former foster father, the chairman of the school board."

"Delores, if it were necessary, I would  **not** hesitate to call Dr. Blakely." Rita spoke in a firm tone just as the door knocked.

"Good." Ms. Trumble gave her not so charming Cheshire Cat smile. "I already called him." The door opened and in came, Dr. Rob Blakely, who was Thalie's former guardian and was still Zac's at the time. "Thank you for coming so promptly, Dr. Blakely. We'll need your help."

"So what's the problem?" Dr. Blakely asked.

* * *

When math had just started (English ended early thanks to a little chaos caused by the Prince of Pranksters, Diablo himself), Miss Lamarca was a bit late, which gave the merteens a little time to discuss their issues.

"We have to cure this." Helen said with the twins and Rose on the phone since she wasn't in that class.

" _You think_?" Rose asked annoyed through the phone. " _I'm craving spicy food_.  _And_   _I hate spicy food!_ "

"That would be his lunch." said Diablo."Hey Xan, when you and your brother tried the spell, you said you used some kind of plankton?"

" _Yeah._ " Xandou's voice came through the three-way-call. " _Only problem is, I can't remember which part of the sea it came from."_

" _Of course._ " Xhiva groaned.

" _Hey, even as babies, we had a lot of stuff_." Xandou argued. " _Even if I did remember it, I probably left it in India._ "

" _Great._ " Xhiva swore.

"Can't you two just go to India and get it?" Helen asked. "I mean, I'm sure Zoe can teleport you or there's some sort of scroll to get there in a flash."

"I wouldn't count on that, Hel." said Diablo.

"Why not?" She asked.

" _Because India happens to be the heart the Kanhoji Cult, our family's business_." Xhiva spoke through the phone. " _Which means that they're gonna have spies everywhere, and that also means, if we set even a toe down on Indian soil, they're either gonna kill or lock us up,-"_

" _Quicker than you can say, 'I was looking for the bathroom.'_ " Xandou finished his brother.

* * *

"I know Raiden has a complicated history." said Dr. Blakely. "Along with family issues, including his brother graduating early, he has struggled with his studies. But I had a stern talk with the young man a couple of months ago, and I can assure you, he is not a cheat. Right?"

The adults looked at the Lightning Omega in expectancy. "My mom and I had a talk the other night, and I took her advice about schoolwork. So I studied and it all clicked."

Ms. Trumble only scoffed in disbelief. "As easy as that?"

"On the contrary, it wasn't easy at all." said Raiden. "I even skipped dinner while studying and never even went to bed." He finished the last sentence with his normal tenor voice slipping into a light mezzo, normally suited for a girl.

"Raiden?" Rita asked concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." He coughed. "I've just got a little gum stuck in my throat." Again, he finished the sentence in Rose's voice

"Gum isn't allowed in school." said Ms. Trumble. "Another piece of evidence needed to suspend this delinquent."

"No." said Dr. Blake firmly. "No one will be suspended. Not as long as Raiden resits the test."

"Seems fair." Rita agreed. "Raiden?"

He nodded meekly, using every bit of strength he could muster, just to keep his voice from slipping up. Passing a test with an ok grade and wearing a hoodie? Not suspicious. Hiding your hair and having your voice change in one morning? Suspicious especially to one Rita Santos.

* * *

"So how does it feel to have Raiden's brain as yours?" Helen asked Rose, during art class. They had to wear gloves along with hairnets and aprons just to keep from transforming.

"Horrible." said Rose. "Did you know that Raiden loves Dragon Ball Z and Back to the Future? "He does love Queen, the band btw. And that he loves bowling and playing baseball using anything?"

"What's wrong with that?" Helen asked.

"When I say I like to get to know a person," Rose snapped irritably, twirling her paintbrush. "This isn't what I had in mind." Unfortunately, she had also finished her sentence with her normally sweet melodic voice dropping low into a steady baritone.

"What the hell?" Helen asked immediately, dropping her paintbrush to the floor. "Call me crazy, but your voice sounds like Raiden."

"What?" Rose asked. "It doesn't."

"Rose, I've got a really good verbal memory." said Helen. "And I know when a voice slips."

"Don't be ridiculous." Rose scoffed. "I don't sound like-" She gasped in Raiden's voice.

In the nick of time, the door burst open with a gust of wind shaking the whole classroom. The sound of footsteps echoed in the classroom and although no one was seen coming in, Rose felt a ghostly presence dragging out of her room.

When she was outside, the door closed just as the air shimmered to reveal an irritated Raiden Consorzio.

"What the hell did you do to me?" He asked with feeling.

The mermaid put her hands on her hips. "Me? You're the one who talked me into casting the spell in the first place!" She thrust her arms forward, and out of them came two streams of electricity, both of them hitting Raiden square in the chest.

"Is that what my lightning feels like?" He asked from his lying position on the floor. "God, I pack a punch."

"Raiden, focus." said Rose. "It looks like it's starting to get out of control. We have to tell Rita about this."

"What?" Raiden asked rhetorically getting up from the floor. "That you wanna tell our principal that not only did Raiden cheat on a test, but that you two used an extremely dangerous spell to do it? If Rita know, she's gonna tell my mom and I'm a dead fish."

"You're already on your way, Raiden." Helen came out, dragging them out past the classroom. reminded her friend. "We've got to skip school so we can get to the islands."

"But shouldn't get Thalie into this?" Rose asked. "Or Kimi or Zoe? They are the experts of magic here."

"Rose, there ain't no time!" Helen exclaimed. "We're lucky Xandou drove to school today, so we meet the twins outside, drive to the harbor, swim to the islands to fix this, and get back here before Rita knows we're gone."

"Come on!" Rose ran with the rest of the gang through the corridors and sure enough they reached the parking lot with the black SUV in front of them and Xhiva waiting for them.

"Go! Go!" Raiden exclaimed impatiently as they got in the car, with Xandou taking the car out of park and putting it in drive at around 50 miles per hour.

"Are you sure you don't need a license if the cops are gonna catch us?" Rose asked.

"Rose, we've got more things to worry about than getting a speeding ticket." Xandou grumbled.

"Once we get to the harbor, we jump into the water and swim to the North Island." said Xhiva. "They'll have the most potion ingredients."

"Couldn't we just use our moon rings?" Rose asked. "Not that I don't mind Xandou's driving."

"1, it's gonna take me some time to get used to hearing my voice come out of your lips." said Raide as they ran through a red light. "2, in case you didn't get the memo, months ago, they placed special wards around all the islands. Besides, the way we're going, this is faster."

"Thanks man." Xandou called out just as they reached the harbor. Ignoring the blaring of horns, the merfolk all ran out and dove into the sea, instantly swimming as fast as they could when their legs fused into fish tails.

Even though it was a very busy day for the clan, they reached the North Island after some time. Unfortunately, the caves of the North Island were occupied, all of them.

"Oh great." Xhiva groaned. "Now what are we gonna do?"

"Guys think. What would Diablo, the Duke of Disorder, do?" Rose smiled mischievously.

Helen swam up, cool as a cucumber, and flicked her hand sideways. Sure enough, a potion that two mermen were experimenting with burst into a bonfire, causing them to leave in a state of panic.

"Nice." Raiden and Xhiva gave Helen a high five with Rose giving her a thumbs up and Xandou beaming at her with pride.

"Rose was there anything on that scroll for a cure?" Raiden asked with certainty lining his effeminate voice.

"All it said was, 'Should any crisis arise with this spell, use something that will reverse all transferences well.'" Rose answered.

"What is it with magic and riddles?" asked Helen.

"That's the thing about spells." said Xhiva. "The warnings come  **after** the instructions."

"Alright." said Xhiva examining the jars of ingredients. "Xandou, can you swim to Rita's grotto and look around for that plankton? There  **has** to be something there."

"Don't do anything stupid." The tattooed merboy swam out of the cave, leaving the rest of the teenagers at the mercy of any suggestion.

* * *

**In the grotto…**

Xandou swam to the sea entrance of the Santos grotto with his enhanced speed with all of his might. As he dried his tail, he thanked his lucky stars that he had accelerated drying with his tail, which made it easier to move around the grotto to look for the plankton he needed.

"Come on Xandou." He cursed in Chinese. "You know what it is. Think!"

He moved at his enhanced speed, looking at every nook and cranny of the large room. It was to his fortune that just a year prior to coming to the Gold Coast, Rita had been convinced by her daughter and friends to put labels on all of the jars containing potion ingredients and samples of creatures after an incident involving switching potion ingredients

Unfortunately, the more time Xandou spent in the grotto, the more frustrated he became, causing his jade green eyes to start flashing red. He knew that the plankton he was looking for had a name that started with a B but he just could not remember the full name or which sea it came from.

Just when it seemed hopeless, he stumbled upon a small bundle of jars with the word "plankton" on the labels written in big black Sharpie letters. It didn't take much for Xandou to finally see the words, "Baltic Sea Plankton" on a jar containing white powder.

"YES!" His shout echoed in the grotto. "Kimi, thank you for almost blowing up the grotto!"

After quickly kissing the glass jar, he ran out of the grotto and dove into the sea entrance, taking off to the North Island, protecting the glass jar so it wouldn't break.

* * *

While Xandou was out getting the ingredients, the rest of the gang was still in the North Island's cave, trying to figure out a way to slow down the transference. Or at least Xhiva and Helen were trying.

"How can you stand having this much hair?" Raiden complained, brushing through the long blonde locks from his mouth. "That's it, I'm cutting this off."

"NO!" Rose grabbed him by the shoulder, which unfortunately sent shockwaves of electricity into his body, causing him to convulse. "Oh Dios Mio, I am so sorry!"

"It's ok." Raiden smiled at her. "I've had worse." His voice was strained from the pain he was experiencing.

"Uh Rose?" Xhiva swam to the now purple eyed mermaid. "Maybe it's best if you give him some space-OW!" He pushed her back, but the physical contact slightly electrocuted the technopath.

"Sorry?" Rose smiled sheepishly.

"Don't freak." said Helen calmly. "We're gonna figure this out."

"I just hope Xandou gets here fast." said Raiden, using his fingers to brush his hair away. "Though seriously, you need to get a haircut."

Rose crossed her arms and scoffed in agitation. "Hey, my hair is fine just the way it is, Raiden. BTW, does this count as talking in the third person if it's their voice and you say their name?"

"That's not important Raid-I mean Rose." said Xhiva. "I've got an idea: Helen's gonna blast her moon ring onto me and I'm gonna configure the energy output on you two, which will hopefully slow down the side effects."

"And make things worse?" Raiden asked. "No way."

"Even though he started it." said Rose. "I'm with him, what if this goes badly enough that-"

"Don't even talk about the worst case scenario." Xhiva rubbed his hands together. "Until my brother gets back, what do you expect us to do? Sit around and do nothing?"

The spell afflicted teens looked at each other and nodded, relaxing in the water to get ready for the risky solution their friend had offered. Xhiva pointed back for Helen to go and when Rose gave the thumbs up, Helen concentrated her energy into her moon ring then sent forth a beam of energy to Xhiva.

With years of training under his belt, the 16 year old merman was able to catch the moon beam's energy with his bare hands, focus it into two small balls of energy and redirect it onto his friends in need.

"Ok, that should do it." He said. "Nothing looks out of the ordinary, so everything seems fine."

"I wouldn't be so sure." said Helen. "Look." She pointed at Rose who was scratching her face and chest like there was no tomorrow.

"What's wrong?" Xhiva asked the itchy mermaid.

"I don't wanna have to shave!" She complained, her comment casting a look of dread on Xhiva's tanned face.

"You think you're the one suffering?" Raiden asked, clamping his lower abdomen. "God, I hate these cramps. Is this what having a period feels like?"

"Not fine." Xhiva groaned with Helen exclaiming, "Oh you think?!"

"What?" Xandou's outraged voice echoed in the cave. "Did you do?"

"You got the stuff? Raiden asked, still holding his hips.

"Yeah." Xandou held up the intact jar. "But when I said don't try anything stupid, this is exactly what I meant!"

"Slight miscalculation in the energy redirection." Xhiva explained quickly.

"Slight wouldn't be the word I'd use, genius." Helen snapped at the boy.

"We didn't slow it down." said Xhiva. "We accelerated it, which means they're not just gonna keep on transferring knowledge and abilities, but  **all** of them."

"Great." Helen groaned. "We may have to change their names to Rosito and Radina."

"Ok, now that we've got that out of our backs," Xandou held up the Baltic Sea Plankton. "I've got a better idea.

* * *

"Can you hurry this up?" Rose asked, still using Raiden's voice. "I'm dying here." Rose and Raiden were in the moon pool where the twins and Helen were standing dry, by the pool's edge, using their powers to heat up the the moon pool. The last time Xhiva and Xandou performed the Shiva spell, they had to use a bathtub to reverse the transformation before things got worse. Whatever the environment, it had to be done in a contained water space.

"Just a bit longer." Xhiva urged the teenagers.

"It didn't take us this long, Xhi." said Xandou, still using his powers to heat up the moon pool.

"That's because we're both boys." said Xhiva, who was holding the jar containing the plankton. "This time we cannot take any risks."

"You can say that again!" said Rose. "My tail's turning blue!"

"So much for things not getting worse." Raiden called out, still using Rose's voice. "Mine's turning gold!"

"The transformation's almost complete." Helen noted. "Xhiva, do it now!"

"We have to wait!" Xhiva retorted.

"You wanna wait?" Helen asked rhetorically. "I'll show you waiting!" She broke off her concentration, took the jar out of her friend's hands and poured it into the moon pool.

Bit just as it happened, the pool glowed a bright blue and bellowed out smoke blinding everyone in the cave. No one could tell what was happening to the merpeople who were still in the moon pool.

"Rosalina!" Xhiva shouted. "Raiden! You guys ok?"

"Raiden!" Xandou shouted. "Rose! Rosalina!"

"Come on guys." said Helen urgently. "Don't die on us now."

The ten seconds that passed seemed like an eternity until finally, two heads bobbed up to the surface, with the right hair on their heads, the right eye color restored, and most importantly, their tails were back to their normal color.

"Yes!" Raiden pumped his fist in the air, that was sparking with electricity, "I'm back, baby!"

"Whatever you guys did," Rose panted with her voice back to normal. "It worked."

"Well this is a fabulous surprise." A drawling voice sent chills up their spine. All 5 merteens turned their heads and found to their dismay, Gyűlölet treading water. "Better get out now, Raiden than never, because your mother is outside." She sneered at the look of horror on the young prince's face. "Oh, dear, we  **are** in trouble."

* * *

Out in the far reef, Queen Persephone was once again tangled in a busy day full of things to sort out, problems that needed advising, all sorts of stuff to run a clan like a well-oiled machine.

"My Queen." said a merman. "There's not enough space for the lot of the medicine."

"Tell the general over there to move some of the sleeping quarters away from the supply rooms." said the one eyed mermaid.

"Your Majesty." an unpleasant voice drawled and the Canadian mermaid turned around and saw Gyűlölet, with Rose, Helen, the twins, Xhiva and Xandou, and her son surfacing to the open air surrounding Persephone and the representatives of the islands.

"Oh." She groaned in worry, swimming towards her son and his friends.

"Your Highness." said the old mermaid. "I found these five miscreants in the moon pool performing an unauthorized experiment."

"What?!" Persephone exclaimed. "Are you crazy?"

"Exactly." Gyűlölet added on. "They could have damaged the sacred heart of Mako!"

Persephone gave the old hag a look. "They could have gotten hurt! First of all, I don't wanna know why all of you are not in school because it's obvious why! What were any of you thinking?! Raiden, I'm looking at  **you**."

Raiden had heard tales of such a thing as a mother's wrath, but when it came to his mother, her wrath could destroy a kraken. He knew his mother was a kind woman, but he had never seen her angry, and at that moment, he wished he wasn't present for it. To the most sensible, it would be most unwise for one to make a Bauman woman mad.

"The thing is-"

"I better not hear any excuses Raiden Antonio!" Persephone put her hand up just as two mermen dragged up a teenage boy.

"Your Majesty." said one of the guards. "Where should I hold this one?"

"Hold him with his father until I can get it sorted through." Persephone answered.

"Oh what happened?" Gyűlölet threw her arms up in exasperation. "Must I be everywhere to clean up the mess these barbarians make?"

"He was a student who was caught cheating on his exam." said Persephone giving Gyűlölet a look.

"Don't move." The mermaid swam off.

"I never understand why kids can get so arrogant that they think they can get away with anything." said Persephone.

"Maybe he needed the grade?" Rose asked. "Because he loves his dad?"

Raiden gave the girl a scorned look while his mother scoffed. "It doesn't matter what his reasons are. It's basically spitting at the faces of the people who devote their time into putting up with children so they can learn! Those people should be nothing but ashamed of themselves!"

Raiden sighed with contempt, swimming forward to look at his mother, right in the eye. "Then I guess that makes me one of those people."

"What are you talking about?" Persephone asked confused.

"Before you or I say anything," said Raiden. "Just know that it wasn't their fault. This whole incident my fault. Just blame me. Be mad at me."

"Raiden, sweetie." Persephone cupped her son's cheek. "What's wrong?"

"The thing is, Mother." said Raiden. "We didn't skip school and swim all the way to Mako to conduct an experiment. We snuck there to reverse a spell that went wrong."

The sapphire eyed mermaid narrowed her only eye. "What spell?"

"Yesterday, I convinced Rose to use a dangerous knowledge transference spell...that she had never done before."

" _ **WHAT?!**_ " Persephone almost screamed in outrage and shock.

"I needed to pass the biology test." This didn't soothe his mother, even a little bit. "I wanted to show you I wasn't a lazy slob."

That comment alone seemed to cut into Persephone's heart. She stumbled back a little before embracing her son. "Come here." Taking her son, they swam a few feet away from the other merteens.

"For the record, I tried to stop him." Rose said to her friends.

"Better men than you have tried." Xhiva replied.

"Listen." said Persephone, facing her son. "You are not a lazy slob. It doesn't matter what grades you get, what matters is how you get them. Now I am disappointed that you did it the easy way, but remember this-there is always someone who will do things the easy way. But that shouldn't stop you from doing things the  **right** way."

"Yes Mother." said Raiden nodding his head. "I'm really sorry."

"I think I did come on strong with the pressure." said Persephone. "It was really unfair to worry you like that. For that I am also sorry."

"So what you're really saying is, this is all your fault and I'm not punished?" Raiden asked, putting on his best face.

Persephone rolled her eye and said, putting her hand on her son's shoulder. "Nice try, but you can't pull a fast one on me. Speaking of fast, don't you have gym clothes to change into, lockers to visit, school to get back to?"

* * *

Even though Rita and Persephone had understood the whole situation, it didn't ease their disappointment over the fact that not only had they skipped school, but that a dangerous spell was used. So Raiden felt relieved that he was given detention for two weeks as well as put into an after school study group, instead of being grounded for the rest of his for the others, they got detention for a few days and that wasn't even the end of it. In fact, Rita had sat  **all** of the teenagers down, including David, and gave them a lecture of school and magic.

"I want to get this through all of your heads." Rita said in the grotto one day. "We  **do not** use magic to get past academics. Ever!"

For Raiden, it was either spend an hour after school every day, doing his homework and getting a tutor for his tests, or summer school. Rose had forgiven Raiden for what happened instantly, even though she was still pretty mad that he had tried to cut off her hair and talked her into doing the spell in the first place.

As for the make up test on Saturday, well, all but Raiden were waiting in the grotto for him to come back with his results. The clock nearby, sounding it's ticks and tocks were the only thing sounding in the grotto until they heard the familiar sound of sneakers on stone, walking into the grotto.

It was Raiden, keeping his cool and holding a piece of paper on his chest.

"Well, I have something to show." He said. Slowly turning the paper around, the gang all leapt with joy at the mark on his paper: B-

"Nice man!" Zac hugged his cousin.

"You did it, Raiden you did it!" Thalie kissed her boyfriend and hugged him tightly.

"Come here you." Raiden let Xandou give him a noogie.

"Thanks, man." Raiden laughed. "Hey, Rose. Come here." He ran to his friend and squeezed her in a hug. "I want to thank you."

"For what?" She asked. "You're the one who earned that grade."

"That's why I want to thank you." said Raiden. "You taught me a valuable lesson. Studying, it's not as worthless as it looks."

"And I come bearing gifts." Ondina came in with a large silver pot. "I followed the recipe, more or less."

"Arctic Marshmallow?" Zoe asked.

"Oh I love that!" Persephone said gleefully.

"This time, I did not add sugar." said Ondina proudly. All of the teenagers, with Persephone and Rita took a spoon and took a spoonful of the pink fluff in the bowl, and while the boy, save for Zac, immedeatly bolted out of the room, the rest were courteous and even went with Zoe's suggestion of, "Cafe?"

"It can't be that bad!" Ondina exclaimed in disbelief, taking a spoonful of the marshmallow. Only then did she realize it tasted like liquified dust instead of sweet fluff. She ran upstairs, found the kitchen and spat out the contents of her mouth into the sink.

"That bad, huh?" Zac sat in the chair with Zoe, both looking at Ondina with smiles.

"Ok, I'll admit it." said Ondina. "I sort of can't cook."

"If you think that was bad, there's a reason we don't let Aunt Seph make dinner." said Zoe.

"I heard that!" Their aunt's voice sounded.

While Zoe moved down, Zac stayed to look at a disdainful Ondina.

"What are you smiling about?" Ondina asked.

Zac chuckled. "I can't wait till you have kids, and you have to cook for them. I'm gonna laugh in your face." With that, he went downstairs to the front door, leaving Ondina alone.

"Ok that's it." She rubbed her belly. "I"m getting you nothing but sea slugs." She was sure her baby was trying to talk to her because she felt some bile rise up to her throat, which luckily she managed to swallow. "Hey, it's either that take-out at the cafe or TV dinners. Don't be so picky."


End file.
